By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
The Brown County High School girls basketball team opened the 2019 season with home victories over Bloomfield and Bloomington North.
After racing out to a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles exploded for 30 second-quarter points en route to a 66-45 victory over the visiting Bloomfield Cardinals in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 13.
The Eagles found their offensive success in a variety of ways. Many of their early scores came in transition after their full court, man-to-man pressure caused problems for the Cardinals.
“We wanted to play aggressive on defense, press, try to cause them to play a little fast at times and make some poor decisions,” said Eagles coach Matt Roberts about the pressure.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Brown County also scored consistently against the 2-3 zone the Cardinals employed to start the contest, moving the ball well, penetrating, and finding cutters for open shots.
Not only were the Eagles converting their interior shots, they also drained six three-pointers in the first half. The first half onslaught, in which all eight players who took the floor for the Eagles scored, did not end until senior guard Allison Stogsdill buried one of her four three-pointers just ahead of the halftime buzzer.
Bloomfield started the third quarter strong, with a 7-2 scoring run during which the Eagles were unable to convert on some easy opportunities around the basket.
The Cardinals outscored the Eagles 14-9 in the quarter, cutting the Brown County lead to 21. Each team scored 11 points in the final frame, and the Eagles were never really threatened.
The Cardinals’ junior guard, Kylee Shelton, led all scorers with 23 points, knocking down three three-pointers in the second half.
The Eagles put three players in double figures. Stogsdill tallied 18, while fellow seniors Aubrey Hollander and Gracie Matlock scored 14 and 12, respectively.
It was an especially sweet win for Hollander, who missed all of last season with an injury. “It feels really good to be back out there with all my best friends and just being able to play basketball again,” she said, grinning.
Roberts was pleased with the outcome as well, especially happy to see contributions made by several players.
“I think one of our strengths this year should be our depth. We can go eight deep and not lose anything,” he said.
Two of those eight, freshman guards Abby Fleetwood and Avery Patterson, more than held their own in their first varsity competition. Roberts attributed their poise and ability to mesh with the older players to the time the team had this summer to get familiar with one another. “The upperclassmen do a great job of embracing the underclassmen and make them feel like they are a part of the group,” he said.
There was certainly no offensive explosion by either team in the Bloomington North game Friday night, as both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm in a game the Eagles won 48-40.
The Eagles did strike early, starting the game with a 9-2 lead. “I was really pleased with how we came out. We got off to a nice little lead there,” Roberts said. However, the Cougars bounced back to tie the game at 14 at the end of the first quarter. Brown County junior guard Anna Fleetwood scored all eight of her points in the quarter, knocking down two three-pointers and a two-point field goal.
The game remained tight throughout the second quarter, as the Cougars posted another 14 points, many coming on second chance opportunities they earned from hitting the offensive boards hard. The Eagles tallied 11 points in the quarter, the last of which came on a three-pointer by Abigail Hollander inside of two minutes. Cougar guard Ainsley Urbanski, who led all scorers with 17, scored 13 in the first half.
The third quarter was the difference maker, as the Eagles outscored the Cougars 11-4 and never relinquished the lead.
Heading into the final quarter 36-32, the Eagles continued in their 2-3 zone defense, limiting the Cougars to eight points in the quarter. Urbanski was 4-for-4 from the free throw line but was unable to get any shots to fall.
About his team’s defensive performance, Roberts said, “We knew Urbanski and (Erin) Lillis are really tough, physical guards. They love to get to the basket. We wanted to mix it up on them, keep them off balance, not let them get comfortable.”
The Eagles remained resilient and stretched the lead to 10, 45-35, with just over two minutes to play. Senior forward Gracie Matlock, who led the Eagles with 11 points, scored two huge buckets, the first a rebound put-back off a missed Stogsdill three-pointer and the second, another put-back off a missed free throw.
Bloomington North was not able to capitalize on a poor fourth quarter free throw performance by the Eagles. Four different Eagles toed the line in the final stanza, but connected on only 4 of 12, with two of the misses being front ends of a one-and-bonus.
However, with 13.6 seconds remaining, Stogsdill calmly sank two free throws to give the Eagles a comfortable cushion, and the Eagles had earned their second victory of the young season.
Stogsdill attributed the win to a gritty performance by the Eagles. “I think it was a hard fought game that relied on defense at both ends. It came down to the nitty-gritty defense, and I think we were better on that end,” she said
In addition to the defense, Roberts was also pleased with his squad’s balance, as once again, all eight players scored. Part of that balance comes from a point guard who is distributing the ball well.
“Abby Fleetwood does a great job maintaining control and seeing the floor well, makes really good decisions, for a freshman especially, and is confident,” Roberts said.
The Eagles will have a week to prepare for their next foe, WIC rival Northview. That contest is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22 at Northview.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Meet the Eagles” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
VARSITY
Seniors: Abigail Hollander, Aubrey Hollander, Adrianna Kritzer, Gracie Matlock, Allison Stogsdill
Junior: Anna Fleetwood
Freshmen: Abby Fleetwood, Avery Patterson
JUNIOR VARSITY
Sophomores: Kailey Buccos, Declyn Wilkerson
Freshmen: Molly King, Londyn Koester, Savannah Oden, Lizzie Roush, Katie Tipton, Abigail Watson
[sc:pullout-text-end]
