(December 2nd, 2014) – PIONEER: Perhaps they took the term “defend your home court” a bit too literally.
Indeed, the Lady Eagles of North Central personified defense when the Hamilton Marines attempted to invaded their nest. The hometown girls of North Central fended off the Marine assault with ease, holding them to under 20 points as a team. When it was over, the final score reflected a North Central victory, 50-19.
Hamilton only had three players produce points for the duration of the game. None of said players reached double digits in scoring. In fact, as a unit, the Lady Marines only managed to make 7 field goals against the North Central defense. The Lady Eagles, meanwhile, completed 18 field goals. Seven different North Central players contributed to that number, including three that scored in double figures.
Leading the Eagles in scoring was Cady VanDeVoorde, putting up 13 points in the victory effort. That total came mostly from the 4 three-point shots the junior knocked down in the game. Senior Sabrina Pickford scored 10 points off of 5 two-point field goals against the Marines. The sophomore duo of Makayla Hayes and Alyssa Swank made up most of the remaining North Central total. Hayes offered up 10 points to the Eagle cause, while Swank totaled 9 points.
North Central was far removed from playing a perfect game, however, despite what the score would indicate. To start, the Lady Eagles shot poorly from the free throw line. They were 43% from the line, sinking only 9 of their 21 attempts. Getting there clearly wasn’t an issue for the North Central girls, but they failed to make the most of the extra points. Of course, the fact that Hamilton was simply abysmal from the charity stripe nullified this flaw entirely. The Lady Marines shot just 27% from the free throw line, connecting on 5 of 18 shots.
Turnovers were another problem faced by the Lady Eagles. The home team committed 20 of the critical errors, which cost them several possessions. Again, though, their guests from Hamilton canceled out the adverse effects of these mistakes, turning the ball over 27 times themselves.
And it was that defensive performance that carried North Central to such a convincing victory. They limited the Marines to 2 points in each of the first two quarters, enjoying a 16-4 lead at the half. Hamilton was able to more than double that first half production in the third quarter, as they were allowed 5 points. With momentum on their side, the Lady Marines scored 10 points in the final period. Unfortunately for them, North Central had scored 17 points in each of the last two quarters of play.
As dominant as this win was by North Central, one has to wonder just how much more impressive it would have been had the Lady Eagles taken care of the basketball and made their free throws. These are things they are going to need to improve upon going forward if they are to meet with a high level of success in Buckeye Border Conference play.