Game Summary
Maumee Valley defeated the Greenhills Gryphons 43-39 to even their record at 1-1 behind the 1-2 scoring punch of Kristin Bigelow and Genna Danes. The Hawks jumped out to an early lead which they maintained throughout the evening. The Blue and White held on at the end despite a withering press from the visitors. A timely coaching move with under 30 seconds to play sealed the victory for the Blue and White.
Starting five: Kristin Bigelow (Jr.), Delaney Lonsway (Jr.), Jazmine Aldridge-Brownlee (Jr.), Genna Danes (Jr.) and Wesley Flaum (Jr.)
First Quarter – MV 8 – GH 1
The Hawks got off to an early lead 6-0 lead against the Gryphons with strong post play by Genna. Yazmin AbdelKarim saw early duty for MV in this quarter.
Second Quarter – MV 15 – GH 13
Greenhills came out in a 2-3 zone early, but was thwarted in their efforts by a Kristin Bigelow 3-ball from the wing. An early substitution of Jordan Baker in the frontcourt helped the under-basket defense; she scored two points in the period. The Blue and White also set up in the 2-3, but were much more successful due to Kristin and Delaney’s opportunistic defense. Several steals at the top led to fast break points by Kristin. Things kept clicking for the Hawks as Genna hit a trey from the top of the key at the 2:20 mark. Kristin and Genna maintained the scoring pace and the Hawks extended their lead at the half.
Third Quarter – GH 13 – MV 8
The Gryphons changed strategy in the second half. They abandoned their inside game and came out firing from the mid- and long-range wings. Greenhills met with good success and quickly began to close the gap. After a timeout, the Hawks switched up defenses to a 1-3-1 zone and quashed the Gryphons run. Play was even in the back half of the quarter and the Hawks clung to a four point lead at the end.
Fourth Quarter – MV 12 – GH 12
Genna hoisted the team on her shoulders for the initial part of the quarter; I’ll just transcribe my notes for the first 1:30 or so…
Genna – big 2 pointer…Genna rebound…Genna rebound…Genna 3-ball…Genna rebound…Genna on fire. No more need be said.
At the 5:11 mark, the Greenhills coach had seen enough. She called time out and switched to man defense. Play continued and the Hawks extended their lead to 41-29 midway through the period.
The Gryphons put on a man-to-man press late in the game. This proved timely, as the Hawks were tired due to a combination of a short rotation and some team illness. Greenhills began to close the gap and cut the lead to 41-39 with less than a minute to play.
This set the stage for the Play of the Game.
With 27.3 seconds to go, MV called a time out and the coaches drew up a press beater. Delaney set up near half court and the long inlet pass found her wide open. The Gryphons were forced to chase her down and this left an uncovered Jasmine streaking towards the basket. Delaney fired the pass to Jasmine, who made the layup and sealed the Hawks victory, thus adding an average of five years to all the parents’ lives. Timely coaching and execution sealed the victory for the Blue and White.
Kristin led all scorers for the evening with 24 points. Genna fired in 15, Jordan made 2 and Jasmine had 2 (GIGANTIC) points on the evening.
Special thanks tonight to…
Karla Luketic, who recently joined the team. The Hawks are trying to build numbers to enable JV games and everyone appreciates Karla’s team spirit. If there are/were any other new additions to the squad, let me know.
Next up
The Hawks look to up their record to 2-1 when they travel to Monclova Christian this coming Thursday December 9 to face the Thunder.
No comments:
Post a Comment