Web posted
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Clausen, South Haven control Central Burden
By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent
SOUTH HAVEN -- Defense, balanced scoring and great bench production propelled the South Haven Lady Cardinals to a 46-32 win over the Central-Burden Lady Raiders Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the SCBL tournament.
Coming off a close game against West Elk Friday night, the Cardinals showed patience on offense and controlled the tempo throughout against Central. Defensively, South Haven collected six steals in the first half as they turned a 17-11 first quarter lead into a 27-17 halftime advantage.
Senior Tina Clausen led the way for the Cardinals scoring 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half, including two from beyond the three-point arc in the second period. Sophomore Christa Curl scored six points off the bench in the first quarter giving the Cardinals a lift after Central had trimmed the lead to two points midway through the period.
"This is about as well as we have played this year," Cardinals coach David Hughes said. "We were much more focused tonight than we have been lately."
South Haven was focused throughout the contest, running their offense with precision-like passing against Central's zone defense. "We told the girls before the game that we just need to settle down and run our offense and look to reverse the ball," said Hughes. "I thought we did a good job doing that tonight."
South Haven's full-court pressure led to 16 Raider turnovers on the night. The Cardinals only had eight.
"We did some nice things with our press," said Hughes. "Our main thing is not to let them beat us down the court."
A 7-1 run, highlighted by a steal and layup by junior Tricia Cook to open the third period, helped the Cardinals put the contest away early in the second half. Junior Jordyn Richards scored four of her six points off the bench in the third as the South Haven lead swelled to 42-21 heading into the final period.
Ashley Wham scored seven of her team-high 14 points in the final quarter as Central held the Cardinals reserves to four points in the period. Shawnell Shepherd was also in double figures with 12 for the Raiders.
South Haven, the defending SCBL tourney champions, improve to 7-1 on the season and will face the Oxford-Argonia winner Thursday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.
CENTRAL 11 6 4 11 --32
SOUTH HAVEN 17 10 15 4 --46
Central -- Wham 14, Shepherd 12, Teague 4, Kill 2.
South Haven -- Clausen 15, Davidson 6, Curl 6, Richards 6, McConnell 5, Cook 4, Bryant 4.
|
