Good defense or poor offense? How about a little bit of both?
A total of just 83 points were scored between TMB and LQPV last Thursday, the result of both teams shooting under 25% and committing a total of 60 turnovers, but it was the Panthers who came out on top with a 44-39 Camden Conference win.
“We got some early opportunities off of the press,” TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh said. “As we got into the second half, we got very, very lucky at times, but we were able to get some turnovers, and the girls did a nice job of transitioning those turnovers into some offense. In a lowscoring game, it was good to be able to create some opportunities.”
TMB set the tone early with its press and was able to open with a 13-8 lead after a three by Gretchen Lanoue, who led all scores with 26 points. Threes by Alli Dolan and Allie Adams pushed the Panthers’ lead to 24-16 with 8:36 left in the first half, but the patient Eagles, who routinely tested the shot clock, were able to pull to within five points by halftime.
LQPV was able to muster its first lead of the game at 39-37 with 3:28 left in the game, as the Panthers got sloppy with the ball.
“Early in the game we were able to get into a little bit of a flow, but the rest of the game was just a massive struggle to get into any kind of rhythm,” said Ashbaugh. “Their pressure just kind of kept building. Neither team would say it was pretty. We’ll take it and try to learn from it as much as we can.”
As points were hard to come by for both teams, TMB was once again the better team down the stretch, as it was in its Jan. 9 win over YME.
A steal by Taylor Munson led the a pair of Lanoue free throws to tie the game at 39 with just over 1 minute to go. After an empty trip down the court of the Eagles, a three-point play by Braelynn Kirk pushed TMB to a 42-39 advantage as the clock hit :25. Kirk came through defensively on the ensuing possession, reaching high to steal the ball near midcourt and Lanoue iced the game with two more TMB free throws with just under 14 seconds to go.
Lanoue was the only Panther to score in double digits. Melaina Ankrum did much of her damage away from the basket with five assists and four steals. Elsie Knott was big underneath with eight rebounds.
LQPV 21 18 — 39 TMB 26 18 — 44 LQPV
Bonn 4-12 4-4 12, Brusten 2-8 1-2 5, Trager 2-3 1-2 6, Shelstad 0-8 2-4 2, Tweet 0-3 3-4 3, Olson 3-12 1-2 8, Conn 1-12 1-6 3. Totals: 12-58 13-24 39. Threepointers: 2-4. Assists: 7.
Rebounds: 47. Blocks: 2.
Steals: 10. Turnovers: 31. TMB
Lanoue 10-26 5-9 26, Ankrum 2-5 2-3 6, Munson 1-3 0-0 2, Kirk 1-13 2-4 4, Knakmuhs 0-4 0-0 0, Adams 1-7 0-1 3, Dolan 1-8 0-0 3. Totals: 16-66 9-16 44. Three-pointers: 3-22 (Lanoue 1-4, Adams 1-3, Dolan 1-7, Kirk 0-5, Knakmuhs 0-3. Assists: 10 (Ankrum 5, Lanoue 2, Munson, Kirk, Adams). Rebounds: 34 (Lanoue 12, Knott 8, Ankrum 4, Munson 2, Knakmuhs 2, Adams 2, Dolan). Steals: 20 (Lanoue 5, Ankrum 4, Kirk 4, Knakmuhs 4, Adams 2, Munson).
