Getting Defensive
Ken Easthouse
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
MELVERN — The Flinthills Lady Mustangs had five scorers in double digits in a 70-29 dominating victory over Marais des Cygnes Valley Tuesday night.
The Lady Mustangs opened up the game with a full-court trap defense which prevented the Lady Trojans from controlling the ball for the opening minutes.
Eventually, however, Flinthills switched to a slower, man-coverage defense.
“We wanted to work on two or three different presses and be respectful to Marais des Cygnes at the same time,” Flinthills coach Mark Womacks said.
Womacks said he knew his team’s varied defensive looks was the main reason the score piled up so quickly, as Flinthills raced out to a 20-5 first-quarter lead. He designed it that way.
“Our offense is generated out of our defense,” Womacks said.
Flinthills senior Caley Onek, who led the team with 19 points, said it was important for the Lady Mustangs to come out firing against the Lady Trojans.
“We just knew we had to come out strong,” Onek said. “Our team has been playing like a roller coaster — we’ve had our downs and we’ve had our ups. It seems like we play down to some of the lesser teams.”
Marais des Cygnes Valley coach Donald Dyke said his team was doing all it could, but stopping the transition game of Flinthills proved to be too daunting a task.
“You’re down by 24 at halftime, but 14, 16 points of that was them getting layups,” Dyke said. “They know when to push the ball and how to push it.”
The Lady Mustangs also racked up multiple assists, making many passes through traffic in transition.
“(Our guards) are probably as good of passers in terms of being good at seeing seams and getting them the basketball,” Womacks said.
Onek said that style of play came from the girls playing with each other for several years.
“Lacey (Breech) and I have been playing together forever,” Onek said. “Sometimes I just chuck the ball down and I just know that she’s going to be there.”
Flinthills boys 53, Marais des Cygnes Valley 51
Flinthills rallied in the fourth quarter to squeak by Marais des Cygnes Valley 53-51 Tuesday night.
The Trojans led at halftime 31-27, but the Mustangs came out firing, going on a 7-0 run in the third quarter. Somehow, however, Marais des Cygnes Valley managed to keep it close.
“I was hoping we could pull away from them, but they’re so well coached you can’t take anything away from them,” Flinthills coach Don Wedel said.
The Trojans managed to keep the game interesting by shooting consistently from three-point territory. In total, 21 of the Trojans’ 51 points came from behind the arc.
“I was surprised they shot so well from the outside,” Wedel said.
That’s because Marais des Cygnes normally relies on its inside presence to score points, Trojan coach Thad Thurston said. However, he said he knew his guards were capable of shooting well if it is required.
“It’s something we’re capable of doing, but it’s not something I like to do,” Thurston said. “I feel we have some opportunities to beat people in the paint.”
Thurston pointed to his team’s transition defense as one of the biggest reasons for the loss.
“We defended them well five-on-five,” Thurston said, “but we didn’t defend well against their break.”
The Trojans have lost many of their games this season by close margins, usually within two points.
“It’s frustrating walking out of that locker room telling those guys ‘we’re almost there,’” Thurston said.