(December 16th, 2014) – DELTA: Shipping off deep into North Western Ohio Athletic League territory, the Lady Cadets launched an assault on Delta’s home court.
The Panthers were ready for them, though.
Hilltop struggled to mount an offensive, thanks in large part to their 23 turnovers on the evening. Of course, the fact that they were unable to work as a unit when in possession of the ball was an issue as well, with the Cadets amounting to just 6 assists against the Panther defense. Overall, their handling of the ball was poor.
This was a major factor in the invading Cadets falling back after a 57-40 defeat in the battle of Delta.
The Lady Panthers, on the other hand, were able to navigate through a tough Hilltop defense quite well. With only 9 turnovers, Delta handled the ball with exceptional care. They also managed to make 11 assists, working together as a cohesive unit. The Lady Cadet defense had a lot of difficulty slowing down the hometown Panthers offensively.
Shooting percentages also display the Cadet woes on both sides of the court. Allowing Delta to shoot 41% from the floor, despite the hometown Panthers going 2 for 11 from the three-point line, the girls from Hilltop couldn’t find a way to makye shooters uncomfortable. Their own shooters had a hard time finding a rhythm, however, making only 27% of their own field goals.
Most of those shots were made by Ariana Brown. The sophomore Cadet made 5 shots on her way to 11 points. She also used her 5’8” frame to pull down 5 rebounds. Felicity Jackson put up 10 points for Hilltop as well. A lot of those points came from 2 three-pointers made by the other sophomore. The rest of her points came from her 4 for 8 performance from the free throw line.
That about sums up her team’s night at the line as well. Shooting 56% from the charity stripe, the Cadet girls connected on 14 of their 25 shots. Getting to the line that much shows an aggressive mentality on offense, something people should have started expecting from Hilltop. Yet they usually shoot better from the free throw line. They did an excellent job of limiting Delta’s attempts from the line, though. The Panthers took just 11 shots, missing 4 of them for a 64% success rate.
Hilltop also out-rebounded Delta in the contest. Bringing in 19 boards, they bested the Lady Panthers’ 15 rebounds.
It was an uncharacteristic night for the Lady Cadets. They shot 15% lower from the free throw line than is typically expected of them, nor did they take care of the basketball the way they have been so far this season. Hilltop will need to get back to their winning formula in order to reproduce their earlier success.