By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
The numbers just don’t lie.
Coming into the Dec. 18 home game against Greenwood, the Brown County High School girls basketball team was averaging right at 60 points per game while allowing its opponents only 39 points per game.
True to form, the Eagles throttled the Woodmen 61-38, improving their record to nine wins and one loss.
Behind freshman guard Abby Fleetwood’s seven points, the Eagles led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The Eagles posted 18 second-quarter points and went into halftime with a comfortable 31-16 lead. Brown County’s leading scorer, Allison Stogsdill (15.8 ppg), had the hot hand the second quarter, knocking down three three-pointers and a two-point field goal.
She got help from fellow senior Abigail Hollander, who came off the bench to score all five of her points in the quarter.
Greenwood scrapped its man-to-man defense and tried a full-court zone press in the third quarter, but the Eagles were not rattled. The Woodmen did, however, have their most productive quarter, outscoring Brown County 14-13.
Senior forward Gracie Matlock tallied all six of her points in the quarter, while Aubrey Hollander scored four of her eight to keep the Eagles from losing their lead.
Brown County built on its 14-point lead with a convincing fourth quarter that saw the Eagles pile up another 17 points. This time it was sophomore Anna Fleetwood and Stogsdill doing the damage, scoring seven points apiece.
Greenwood was led by sophomore Quinn Kelly with 12 and junior Brooklyn Stubblefield with 10.
Stogsdill, who led all scorers with 24, said, “I think I had a good offensive rhythm going with my shot. It felt nice.”
She had considerable help from a very balanced Eagle attack that saw seven Eagles post points. Six of those seven scored five points or more.
Balance and key contributions from the bench have been trademarks of this Eagle squad, and coach Matt Roberts is quick to acknowledge the production he is getting from his bench.
“Players like Abigail, Avery (Patterson) and Adri (Kritzer) all do a great job coming off the bench,” he said.
“Avery can handle the ball for us if we need her to. She can knock down some perimeter shots. She’s got the ability to score off the dribble a little bit as well,” said Roberts of his freshman guard, who scored 15 in the previous week’s win at Owen Valley.
About senior guard Abigail Hollander, he stated, “Abigail is a perimeter threat for us, a very smart player.”
At 5’4”, but tough, senior Kritzer is called on to battle players much taller. “I call her scrappy. She’s getting in on just about every loose ball. She’ll knock down a shot or two here or there,” Roberts said.
Kritzer sees her role in much the same fashion. “I think my role coming off the bench is just to be present, to show defense, the defensive side more than the offensive side, and get rebounds and be a big body down low.”
At the halfway point of the season, Roberts is “thrilled with where we are right now, thrilled with the way we are playing.”
Still, he knows he and his team cannot get complacent. “We know down the road we are going to run into some tough teams that are going to push us, that are going to challenge us.”
He knows there are games left on the schedule where the Eagles will probably be the underdog and the team will need to maintain its high level of play and intensity to be successful.
Balanced scoring, unselfish play, stingy defense and consistent bench production have put the Eagles in a great spot midway through the season.
Senior leader Stogsdill believes that team unity and continued unselfish play will be paramount as the team approaches what could be the most rigorous stretch of its schedule. “The team’s success is what matters, not your own individual success,” she said. “We know if we are going to go far, we have to be a family, not just a team.”
Brown County hosts a four-team tournament Friday, Jan. 3. The Eagles will play South Central at 10 a.m. followed by Beech Grove vs. Bloomington South at 11:30 a.m. The consolation game will begin approximately an hour and 20 minutes after the conclusion of the second game, and the championship game will follow that.
