Three Rivers erupted offensively in the fourth quarter to blow open a low-scoring defensive battle with Sturgis and pulled away to a 40-21 win over the host Trojans Friday night in a Wolverine South Division battle.
“Everything comes back to what we do defensively, whether it’s in the halfcourt with our halfcourt trap or when we extend and play some fullcourt pressure,” Wildcat coach Jason Bingaman said. “The big thing we did when we did get the basketball during our run, we were efficient. We were able to get to our spots, which we weren’t doing for a majority of the game, it created openings and we were able to get a lot easier shots.”
The Lady Cats held a 18-17 lead heading into the final eight minutes as both teams pressured the others offense. Sturgis knew it had to slow down the Wildcats’ Hadley Miller.
“We definitely knew we had to contain Miller, she’s a good player coming off screens,” Trojans coach Amie Burger said. “I think we did have a good gameplan. I think everything kind of fell apart for us when Baleigh (Brazo) went down. She’s our vocal leader for us, a communicator, helping on screens and letting the girls know where they need to be. If she doesn’t go out, I think it’s a different game.”
Sturgis was leading at the time by four points.
Three Rivers bounced back to take it’s first lead of the game, 16-15 on a 3-pointer by Tessa Hawkins. The Trojans answered with a layup by De’Ashia Sanders off a feed from Lindsay Kiss to go back on top.
Miller closed the quarter with a long jumper for a Wildcat 18-17 lead.
“They’re ball-pressure, they played tough man-to-man defense and we didn’t respond to it very well,” Bingaman said of his teams struggles offensively. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but a lot of the time that was Sturgis and the pressure they were applying. Once we were able to talk about what we wanted to do adjustment-wise, we were able to create some gaps. And we knew, if we kept doing the things we needed to do and getting the shots, things would start falling and they did.”
The Three Rivers lead increased to 31-18 three minutes into the final quarter. The Wildcats were able to hit some shots and get some rebounds that kept possessions alive.
“That little stretch it did,” Burger said of the fourth quarter board disadvantage. “We were small in some of our positions, we were trying with the size we had out there to do matchups, but in the end we didn’t get a good body on them and they got some rebounds over us that we needed at crucial times.”
Bingaman was happy to see his team actually matchup size-wise.
“This is one of the few teams that we play that we aren’t in a disadvantage height-wise, so we knew being able to control the boards and not give them second- and third-chance opportunities was going to be big,” Bingaman said. “Because we felt defensively we could force some tough shots.”
The Trojan defense was strong enough to get a win, but the offense struggled all night.
“We’re not patient enough, we’re one pass and shooting, we’re just are not getting the best looks that we need to and then when we are getting good looks we’re not hitting them,” Burger said. “We’ve just got to be more focused on it and make sure we’re helping each other out and crashing the boards, so we can get some second chance points.”
Miller topped the Three Rivers scoring with 12 points, Kalie Heivilin tossed in eight, Hawkins finished with six, Alivia Knapp added five, Izzy Taylor scored four, Alaina Abnet had three and Jessica Barnes had two.
Sanders led the Trojans with 11 points, Sage Groves notched four and Brazo and Kiss each had three.
Centreville 68, Hartford 27
The Centreville girl’s basketball team improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in Southwest 10 play on Friday night with a 68-27 win over Hartford.
“This week, we’ve challenged ths girls in practice to play with more intensity and aggressiveness and that carried onto the court today,” Lady Bulldogs coach Jill Peterson said. “The tempo and push we played with tonight was a lot of fun to watch and be a part of.”
Centreville lee 14-8 after one quarter of action and improved on that in the second, posting 20 to lead 34-16 at the break.
The Lady Bulldogs defense continued to be strong in the second half, holding Hartford to single-digit scoring in the second half with seven in the third and four in the fourth.
Centreville posted 11 in its third quarter and 23 in the fourth.
Peterson said she is happy with the amount of time her players are getting on the floor.
“The depth on this team is tremendous and we’re fortunate to sub in and out without missing a beat,” she said. “It’s fun to think about where this team’s potential could end up in the coming weeks considering we still have things to fine-tune and polish up. I’m proud of the girls for their attitude and effort they are displaying on and off the court.”
Carly Todd led Centreville with 17 points, Samara Schlabach added 14 points with six rebounds and two blocks while Joanna Larsen tossed in 10 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Carlee Odom added seven points, she also handed out six assists while swiping six steals.
Olivia Deeds chipped in with six points; Kayla Gest, Brittany Morris and Morgan Walton all had four points while Abby Nighswonger had two points with seven assists.
Brandon Watson contributed to this report.