BLANCHESTER — A cranked up defensive effort and a strong showing at the free throw line proved to the recipe for success Thursday as Blanchester defeated Amelia 43-41 in a non-league girls basketball game at the BHS gym.
The Ladycats trailed 41-31 with 3:38 to play in the fourth quarter. BHS had little going for it to that point in the game at either end of the court.
“We were really, really struggling to make a shot or do anything really,” BHS coach Bennie Carroll said. “It seemed like our energy in the first half wasn’t quite as good as it was the other night.”
With time against them, the Ladycats found their mojo with a relentless effort.
“We just kept getting after them,” said Carroll. “We didn’t change a whole lot, just kept scratching and clawing. We got a few steals and turnovers and somehow hit enough foul shots to beat them.”
Many of those successful shots came at the free throw line. Blanchester was 4 for 13 at the line in the first three quarters but then made 9 of 11 in the final period to turn back the Lady Barons.
Asia Baldwin was 4 for 4 at the line in the fourth while Mckenzie Miller was 2 for 2 and Savana Greene made 3 of 5, Carroll said.
“We played a lot of people and that is part of our strategy, try to fatigue them at the end,” said Carroll.
Blanchester is now 2-0 while Amelia falls to 1-1.
Emma Gundler led Blanchester with nine points and five steals. Baldwin had seven points and six rebounds while Greene canned six points and grabbed six rebounds. Miller and Elecia Patton had two assists each.
While Amelia had two players who reached double digits in points, Blanchester was led by Gundler with nine but four with six or more.
“We don’t have a Sarah Burton, Tristan Culberson or even a Rachael Doyle that can go off for 20 (points),” Carroll said. “It’s going to have be by committee and hopefully one or two of them each night can hit a few shots.”
SUMMARY
December 1, 2016
@Blanchester High School
Blanchester 43 Amelia 41
B 06.14.06.17…..43
A 10.15.08.08…..41
(43) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Baldwin 1-0-5/6-7 Patton 3-0-0/2-6 O. Gundler 3-0-1/3-7 E. Gundler 4-0-1/4-9 Miller 1-0-2/4-4 Ostermeier 1-0-0-2 Greene 1-0-4/7-6 Watters 1-0-0-2 Farrow 0-0-0-0 Wilson 0-0-0-0 Lindsey 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 15-0-13/26-43
(41) AMELIA (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Smith 0-0-2/2-2 Hatcher 3-0-2/4-8 Broughton 6-0-1/1-13 Koehnke 6-2-0-14 Stewart 1-0-1/1-3 Deaton 0-0-1/2-1. TOTALS 16-2-7/10-41
