Girls basketball picks up win against Shawnee Mission South
The Lady Jags defeated the Raiders 75-47 and worked to build stronger team chemistry
January 25, 2017
The Lady Jags defeated the Shawnee Mission South Raiders with a final score of 75-47 on Monday, Jan. 23.
Since they knew what the competition would be like ahead of time, sophomore Presley Barton, who scored 13 points, and her teammates wanted to use the game as a way to improve the team as a whole.
“We were focussing on us,” Barton said. “We thought [the game] was going to be an easy win so we tried to work on our [skills].”
The game remained scoreless during the first minute of play until senior Ashlyn Hendrix made a shot from underneath the basket to put the Lady Jags up by two points. The Lady Jags kept the score close, but trailed the Raiders 7-10 by the conclusion of the first eight minutes.
Junior Adde Hinkle, who finished the game with two points, attributed the slow start for the team to its performance in previous games.
“We always struggle with coming out strong,” Hinkle said. “We always make mistakes in the beginning, but we are able to come back from it.”
According to Barton, the team focused on ways to anticipate the Raiders’ offense in order to prepare for the game.
“We spent a lot of time going over [the Raiders’] plays,” Barton said. “At practice we worked hard to get ready for the game.”
The Lady Jags regained control of the game in the second quarter, leading the Raiders 30-19 by the end of the first half. During the second half of the game, the Lady Jags continued to increase the gap, leading by as many as 32 points at a time.
After the first half of the game, Hinkle and the team were able to extend the lead by deciding to pull back more on defense.
“In the first half we were pressing a lot which led to the other team getting fast break aways and scoring a lot of points,” Hinkle said. “ In the second half we decided not press and that really benefited us and helped us get more stops and score more.”
By playing more consistently, Hinkle believed the team gained confidence which carried throughout the rest of the game.
“Once we started continuously making our shots and getting more points it boosted our confidence,” Hinkle said. “Once that happened we just kept going up from there.”
This game allowed Hinkle and her teammates to improve on team chemistry.
“Lately we’ve been struggling to bond as a team,” Hinkle said. “We really came together and played more as a team instead of individually [this game]. We passed to others rather than forcing one of our own shots.”
The Lady Jags will compete next in the Lady Cat Classic Tournament in El Dorado, Kansas which lasts from Thursday, Jan. 26 through Saturday, Jan. 28.
