(December 2nd, 2014) – MONTPELIER: As the two teams gathered with their coaches at the end of the third period, the scoreboard displayed a 25-25 tie. Ayersville had battled back from a halftime deficit against a determined Montpelier squad, setting the stage for a showdown of epic proportions in the fourth quarter.
Then the Lady Pilots scored 31 points.
The final score may read 56-38 in Ayersville’s favor, but that is hardly indicative of how this game played out. In fact, the Lady Locos held the Pilots to as low as 4 points in the entire second quarter. This match-up was a defensive struggle, and the girls of Montpelier had the upper hand.
Even with that ridiculously productive fourth period, the Lady Pilots were still held to just 28% on their field goals by the Montpelier girls, making just 18 of their 65 attempts. They also weren’t allowed to connect on any of their 16 three-point shots in the game. The Locomotives did an excellent job making things difficult for Ayersville’s shooters.
What they didn’t do well was rebound the basketball. The visiting Ayersville girls won the battle of the boards quite easily, pulling down 38 rebounds to the Locos 24. In particular, the Pilots’ 21 offensive rebounds were damaging to the Montpelier cause, giving Ayersville extra opportunities at the basket. This is how they can manage so many field goal attempts.
Of course, that’s not the only reason Ayersville was able to put up so many shots. Most of the Lady Locomotives 17 turnovers were steals by the Pilots. Forcing turnovers at such a high rate placed a lot of pressure on Montpelier, as transition defense is the hardest part of basketball to master. It also adds to a team’s chances to score.
Hannah Blake, Montpelier’s junior standout, did most of the team’s scoring. She put up 16 points against Ayersville, including two three-pointers. She also pulled down 8 rebounds, making 3 assists and a block as well. Maddie Richmond also knocked down a pair of threes, going a perfect 2 for 2 from behind the arc. Overall, Richmond scored 10 points in the game, adding a rebound and a steal to her contributions. Senior Baylee Hageman had a tough game, connecting on only 1 of her 10 field goal attempts and totaling 4 points on the evening.
As a team, the Locomotives shot 28% from the floor as well. They did, however, shoot an astounding 57% from the three-point line, putting 4 of their 7 attempts through the bottom of the net.
It was the free throw line where the Locos’ shooting really suffered. Making only 8 of their 17 extra points put them at a mere 47% from the line. Ayersville wasn’t too much better, connecting on 61% of their own shots from the charity stripe. Yet, taking 33 attempts from it skews the numbers much more in the Pilots favor, giving them 20 points from the line.
So it was offensive rebounding, turnovers, and the free throw line that allowed the visitors from Ayersville to pull away from Montpelier so late into the game. Losing the fight in just one of these areas is hard enough a challenge from which to come back; being beaten in all three makes staying in the game nearly impossible.
And yet, for three quarters none of that mattered.