By MATT CRESS
Matthew.Cress@newsandtribune.com
November 23, 2008 01:18 am
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JEFFERSONVILLE — With a starting lineup that includes two freshman and two sophomores — and a roster devoid of seniors — there were bound to be some growing pains for the Jeffersonville girls’ basketball team.
On Saturday, the pain was on full display. Then again, so was the growth.
Demonstrating flashes of their tantalizing potential, the Red Devils overcame their own shortcomings and sprinted past Bedford North Lawrence 67-53 at Johnson Arena for their first Hoosier HIlls Conference victory of the season.
The win capped an unusual weekend for Jeff (2-1), which blitzed Silver Creek in the program’s first-ever win at historic Nachand Fieldhouse on Friday, then found a way to cruise past a team regarded as a dangerous team in a loaded HHC.
The Red Devils committed 35 turnovers in Saturday’s contest and shot 18 fewer shots than the Stars (1-2), but for every show of inexperience, there was a burst of maturity. Jeff got stronger as the game went on and showed that it knows how to close things out by hitting 22-of-29 free throws on the night and beating Bedford’s press for a slew of easy baskets as it pushed out to a 17-point lead with less than three minutes to go.
“We were definitely concerned about Bedford coming in,” said Jeff coach Chad Gilbert, whose team dropped a similair 13-point loss to the Stars in its third game of last season. “They’re a top-tier contender in our conference and (Bedford coach Godlevske) Kurt does a great job. They make you play like it’s an open gym.”
Taking a page out of Jeff’s typical playbook, Bedford hit the court running with its full-court trapping defense and it kept the Stars in the game until Jeff finally seemed to solve it in the latter part of the fourth quarter.
It took Jeff less than four minutes to commit eight turnovers, and it had 12 by the end of the first quarter. Still, the Stars had problems of their own against a relentless 2-3 Red Devil zone that held them to 25 percent shooting over the first eight minutes. Bedford clung to an 11-10 at the end of the period, despite taking double the amount of shots.
“Our kids want to score,” Gilbert said. “They’ve just got to do a better job of identifying the situation. When a team presses, we’ve got to get that lay-up drill going to get them out of it. The turnovers we made were very correctable.”
Bedford grabbed its biggest lead, at 13-10, in the first minute of the second quarter but Lakin Roland quickly scored and then, moments later, hit Jeff’s only 3-pointer of the night to give her team a lead it would never relinquish.
The Stars kept pace at the 3-point line, getting a trey from Kenley Perry to pull within 23-22 and then another from junior Jessica Pruett to tie things up at 27. Only two free throws from Brooklyn Kinnaird kept the Devils ahead at the intermission.
Unfortunately for Bedford, there’s something about the third quarter that Shanice Gholson seems to like.
After pouring in 16 points in Friday’s win over Silver Creek, Gholson keyed the run that finally gave Jeff some breathing room. With her team clinging to a two-point lead after the third 3 of the night from Pruett, she scored back-to-back baskets in the lane to make it 40-34.
After Jamice Williams, Jeff’s main ballhandler who was harrassed with two and three-player traps all night, found Kinnaird for a layup and scored on a breakaway, Gholson capped the outburst by scoring and drawing a foul. The Devils went up 46-38 heading into the fourth.
“Shanice has got to build on this,” said Gilbert, who watched the junior reserve erupt for 46 points over the weekend. “We’re not at our potential yet, but she’s a big part of it.”
Three quick points from Bedford guard Amanda Anderson pulled the Stars to within 49-42, but Jeff put it away by finally putting it all together.
Brooke Valentine scored on a putback to open a 10-0 Red Devil run, highlighted by Roland and Kinnaird scoring easily by breaking the Bedford press. From there, Jeff hit 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to ensure a drama-free victory.
The real key was on the glass, where Jeff, which got eight boards each from Gholson and Valentine and nine from Roland, outrebounded the Stars 39-17.
“We rebounded the heck out of the ball tonight,” said GIlbert. “We have taken a lot of pride in our rebounding and it’s something that we emphasize. Bedford is the kind of team that forces you to do that well.”
Gholson finished with a game-high 18 points, while Kinnaird and Roland each scored 12. Jalynn McClain, one of those two freshman starters, had nine points and seven rebounds.
Pruett, a reserve who went 4-of-10 from the 3-point line, led four Stars in double figures with 15 points.
Jeff will travel to South Central on Wednesday before hitting the road for its first HHC road game at Jennings County on Friday.
BEDFORD NL 11 16 11 15—53
JEFFERSONVILLE 10 19 17 21—67
Bedford North Lawrence (1-2) — Anderson 13, Holt 0, Mann 2, Terrell 13, Perry 10, Pruett 15, Matlock 0, Chastain 0.
Jeffersonville (2-1) — Williams 8, Samuel 2, McClain 9, Kinnaird 12, Roland 12, Valentine 6, Falkenstein 0, Brendle 0, Gholson 18.
Three-point field goals — Bedford North Lawrence 7 (Pruett 4, Anderson, Terrell, Perry); Jeffersonville 1 (Roland).
Rebounds — Bedford North Lawrence 17 (Perry 5); Jeffersonville 39 (Roland 9).
Turnovers — Bedford North Lawrence 17, Jeffersonville 35.
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