Web posted
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Maize gets early lead to run past AC girls
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Photo by David Wolman
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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
MAIZE - By the time Katie Godfrey hit a mid-range jumper with 2:42 left in the second quarter to get Arkansas City in double digits, Maize had already built a 17-point lead.
And it just continued to get worse for the Bulldogs.
Maize dominated in nearly all phases of the game and received 19 points from Heather Robben and 16 from Kaity Riffel as the Eagles earned an easy 58-32 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night.
"I knew it was going to be a tough game, but I just thought we were going to play better," Ark City coach Bill Stinson said.
Ark City was looking to build on its win last Saturday over Campus, in which the Bulldogs were able to close out a game after losing leads in their previous two.
Instead, Maize used a stifling press defense to take control of last night's game early.
One example: McKenzie Cox recorded a steal and passed it to Kirsten Chamberlain, who buried a three-pointer from the left corner for a 16-6 Eagles lead with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
By the time Ark City (2-7) was able to consistently break Maize's press, the Eagles were well in control.
"We worked on that," Stinson said. "We knew it was coming. That's what they did last year. But we were just half a second slow."
Despite their early troubles, the Bulldogs somehow found themselves in the game.
Natalie Stinson brought Ark City to within 8-4 on a basket. After a Cox baseline jumper, Val White swung a pass around two defenders to Molly Warren for a layup to again cut Maize's lead to four.
Stinson heated up in the second half, scoring 18 of her game-high 20 points. Karlye Sturd added seven.
But Robben, who scored 14 of her points in the first half, and Chamberlin hit back-to-back three-point daggers for a 16-6 Eagles lead. On Robben's attempt, Ark City was trapping another Maize player on the right sideline, but left Robben wide-open on the left corner.
Those two makes clearly left Stinson visibly frustrated on the Ark City bench.
"We knew what they were going to do," he said. "We had scouted and worked on it. It was just like we went brain-dead. Everything that had worked on, it was just like it was out the window. They've got to be focused. Now they know when we get ready to play a team and scout them, they've got to do what we ask them. They've got to take some ownership."
And the rout was on from that point.
Maize continued to spread Ark City's defense out, leaving the Eagles with wide-open shots all over the floor.
"They just physically ran by us," Stinson said. "I'm disappointed because we're breaking down defensively on stuff that we've doing ever since we took over."
Kendra Crow hit a short jumper for a 19-point lead. Cox then put the exclamation point on a strong first half for Maize (6-3), burying a three-pointer from the right corner just as the buzzer sounded to lift the Eagles to a 33-10 halftime lead.
"All five of their players on the court are good basketball players," Stinson said.
Ark City was outscored 17-3 in the second quarter. It was limited to Godfrey's jumper and a Natalie Benton free throw.
Riffel gave Maize a 30-point lead on a jumper just inside the three-point line late in the third quarter. A big part of the Eagles' win was their efforts on the boards. Maize clearly outworked Ark City on the glass, finishing with a 27-8 advantage.
The Bulldogs only pulled down three rebounds in the second half. Natalie Stinson scored 11 points in the third quarter, but her efforts came too late.
Maize forced 10 of Ark City's 18 turnovers in the second half. "Everything was good for them tonight," Stinson said of Maize.
Ark City 7 3 13 9 - 32
Maize 16 17 15 10 - 58
Ark City - Stinson 20, Sturd 7, Warren 2, Godfrey 2, Benton 1.
Maize - Robben 19, Riffel 16, Cox 9, Bell 8, Chamberlin 6, Crow 3.
Above: Arkansas City junior Kasha Hunt, left, looks for an open teammate Friday night while being guarded by Maize's Sarah Massuci.
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