Web posted
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Defense carries South Haven girls
By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent
OXFORD -- Following a lackluster performance in a loss at Caldwell Monday night, the South Haven Lady Cardinals returned to a formula they have found success in....lockdown defense.
With the score tied at 29 midway through the third quarter, South Haven senior Beth Davidson picked up her fifth foul, ending her night. At that point, the Cardinals turned up the defensive heat on the Lady Wildcats, outscoring Oxford 25-7 the rest of the way for a 54-36 win Tuesday night.
"We switched up and went with a 2-1-2 zone defense in the second half," said South Haven coach David Hughes. "We were able to get a lot of pressure with our full court trap and got some easy baskets out of it."
After Davidson fouled out, Tina Clausen scored and was fouled. Clausen missed the free throw but Jordyn Richards grabbed the offense rebound and scored giving the Cardinals a 33-29 lead. South Haven pushed the lead to 37-29 late in the period on steals and layups by Clausen and Breanna Bryant.
Leading 39-31 heading into the final quarter, the Cardinals held the Wildcats scoreless until less than a minute remained while building a 52-31 lead. Sophomore Caitlyn Mapel snapped the scoreless drought for Oxford with a pair of buckets inside with less than 42-seconds left in the contest.
South Haven took advantage of 24 Wildcat turnovers, including 11 steals. After a slow start that saw the Cardinals fall behind 9-4 with 3:00 minutes left in the first quarter, Clausen drained a three pointer and stole a pass on the ensuing Wildcat possession, converting the layup, tying the score with 1:45 left. Oxford, behind a three pointer by Kacee Carson, led 13-11 heading into the second quarter.
Oxford led 17-12 with 6:35 left in the half. South Haven chipped away at the lead and with 4:59 remaining took an 18-17 lead on a steal and layup by sophomore Christa Curl. The Cardinals extended the run to 10-0 and led 22-17 before Lynsey Metz got loose inside, shrinking the Cardinal lead to 22-19.
South Haven built the lead back to 27-22 with time running out in the quarter. Carson hit a three from the right baseline and was fouled by Tricia Cook. Carson hit the free throw giving the Wildcats momentum heading into the locker room, trailing 27-26.
"We talked about finding the shooters at halftime," said Hughes of Carson. "We gave her too many open shots. I thought we did a much better job out of our zone in the second half."
Clausen and Curl led the Cardinals with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Bryant came off the bench to add nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Carson was the only Wildcat in double figures. She scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half.
South Haven (12-7 overall) closes out the regular season Friday at Elk Valley.
SOUTH HAVEN 11 16 12 15 -- 54
OXFORD 13 13 5 5 -- 36
South Haven -- Clausen 16, Curl 11, Bryant 9, Richards 6, Davidson 6, McConnell 4, Dvorak 2.
Oxford -- Carson 16, Norris 5, Metz 4, Neises 4, Mapel 4, Reynolds 2, Miller 1.
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