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GIRARD —
The second quarter proved to be magical for the Girard Trojans and catastrophic for the Baxter Springs Lions in both halves of their CNC League twinbill Friday night at Ted R. Taylor Gymnasium.
The Girard boys used a 17-0 run to go from behind 14-8 early in the second quarter to ahead 25-14 before the Lions scored again, en route to a 59-32 triumph and first CNC win for the Trojan boys.
The Girard girls trailed 20-16 before closing out the second quarter 16-3 with a combination of solid pressure defense and hot shooting. Girard outscored Baxter Springs 29-12 in the second and earned a 65-41 win.
Girard boys 59, Baxter Springs 32
The Lions worked the high-low entry pass in the first and early in the second quarter, as 6-foot-4 junior post Kacey Elias benefited with 10 points on four point-blank shots and two made free throws.
“In the first quarter, we didn’t pressure the ball very well,” Girard head coach Rod Wescott said. “They picked us apart. Elias is a handful. He had 10 of the first 14. We fronted and we didn’t have the backside help.”
Girard amplified its on-ball defensive pressure and Elias did not score again until the fourth quarter. On its offensive end, Girard scored 17 straight points in the second with baskets from Devin Alters, Cody Grilz, Zach Murdock, Trenton Stolte and Dillon Walsh, leading 27-18 at halftime.
Murdock (listed at 6-4 to match Elias) played solid interior defense on Elias and finished with 10 points.
“He (Murdock) played with some fire the last three quarters,” Wescott said. “Zach bodied up and played him (Elias) tough.”
The Trojans found a nice inside-outside balance — transition opportunities, putbacks, backdoor cuts for layups, mid-range jumpers and spot-up threes.
“We did a better job of getting the ball inside and attacking the paint,” Wescott said. “We just didn’t settle for jump shots. We’re a better team when we work the ball inside and then go outside.”
Grilz led three Girard players in double figures with 13 points. Alters had 11 to join Grilz and Murdock in double-digits. Walsh added nine and Hunter Peak had six in the fourth quarter, both shots 3-pointers. Stolte also had six and Kyle Eckelberry closed out the Girard scoring with four points.
Elias paced Baxter Springs with 13 points and Austin Karnes added 12.
Girard (7-9, 1-2 CNC) plays on the road Tuesday against Erie.
Girard girls 65, Baxter Springs 41
The Lions made a concerted effort to make somebody other than Girard point guard Hadyn Herlocker beat them Friday night.
The second quarter proved to be magical for the Girard Trojans and catastrophic for the Baxter Springs Lions in both halves of their CNC League twinbill Friday night at Ted R. Taylor Gymnasium.
The Girard boys used a 17-0 run to go from behind 14-8 early in the second quarter to ahead 25-14 before the Lions scored again, en route to a 59-32 triumph and first CNC win for the Trojan boys.
The Girard girls trailed 20-16 before closing out the second quarter 16-3 with a combination of solid pressure defense and hot shooting. Girard outscored Baxter Springs 29-12 in the second and earned a 65-41 win.
Girard boys 59, Baxter Springs 32
The Lions worked the high-low entry pass in the first and early in the second quarter, as 6-foot-4 junior post Kacey Elias benefited with 10 points on four point-blank shots and two made free throws.
“In the first quarter, we didn’t pressure the ball very well,” Girard head coach Rod Wescott said. “They picked us apart. Elias is a handful. He had 10 of the first 14. We fronted and we didn’t have the backside help.”
Girard amplified its on-ball defensive pressure and Elias did not score again until the fourth quarter. On its offensive end, Girard scored 17 straight points in the second with baskets from Devin Alters, Cody Grilz, Zach Murdock, Trenton Stolte and Dillon Walsh, leading 27-18 at halftime.
Murdock (listed at 6-4 to match Elias) played solid interior defense on Elias and finished with 10 points.
“He (Murdock) played with some fire the last three quarters,” Wescott said. “Zach bodied up and played him (Elias) tough.”
The Trojans found a nice inside-outside balance — transition opportunities, putbacks, backdoor cuts for layups, mid-range jumpers and spot-up threes.
“We did a better job of getting the ball inside and attacking the paint,” Wescott said. “We just didn’t settle for jump shots. We’re a better team when we work the ball inside and then go outside.”
Grilz led three Girard players in double figures with 13 points. Alters had 11 to join Grilz and Murdock in double-digits. Walsh added nine and Hunter Peak had six in the fourth quarter, both shots 3-pointers. Stolte also had six and Kyle Eckelberry closed out the Girard scoring with four points.
Elias paced Baxter Springs with 13 points and Austin Karnes added 12.
Girard (7-9, 1-2 CNC) plays on the road Tuesday against Erie.
Girard girls 65, Baxter Springs 41
The Lions made a concerted effort to make somebody other than Girard point guard Hadyn Herlocker beat them Friday night.
This strategy worked for a stretch, as the Lions built a 11-4 lead and led until Girard senior Danica Kelly made her second basket in a row for a 20-20 score with 4:05 remaining in the first half. Girard sophomore Carly Heatherly made a 3 and Girard never trailed, building a 36-23 halftime lead with 16 points scored in just over 4 minutes.
“They made a major effort to take Hadyn out of the game,” Girard head coach Brad Herlocker said. “I think she (Hadyn) did a good job of finding the open person and we were able to get some quality shots. In the first quarter, the shots didn’t fall and in the second quarter, a lot of kids stepped up and shots fell.”
Girard created plenty of scoring opportunities for itself by forcing Lion turnovers, including 11 miscues in that decisive second quarter. Conversely, Girard only committed a single turnover in the second.
“We didn’t panic in that first quarter and kept our regular rotations and they didn’t sub much,” Coach Herlocker said. “I told the girls that I thought somewhere in the second quarter (Baxter Springs) would lose their legs and we would take advantage of it. That window opened up and girls really stepped up the intensity. Our defense always gets our offense going.”
The Baxter Springs master strategy backfired, as four Girard players scored at least 10 points and another Trojan player added nine points.
Jordan Davied led Girard with 16, followed by Hadyn Herlocker with 15, Kelly 12 and Hope McLeod 10. Heatherly scored nine points.
“Their plan was to shut down one player and we showed that we are a team of players,” Coach Herlocker said. “We are very proud of how everyone stepped up and took their shots with confidence. Baxter has a nice ball team and will win a lot of games this year.”
Tasha Wampler scored 16 points for Baxter Springs. Nina Spence added eight, all points scored before halftime.
Girard (12-4, 3-0 CNC) faces Erie on the road Tuesday and Baxter Springs (11-4, 2-1) hosts Colgan on Tuesday.
Girard girls 65, Baxter Springs 41
BSHS 11 12 13 5 — 41
GHS 7 29 18 11 — 65
BAXTER SPRINGS (41) — Tasha Wampler 5 6-12 16, Nina Spence 1 5-6 8, Kelsey Karnes 2 2-2 7, Ashleigh Grimes 2 1-2 6, Blake Burns 1 0-0 2, Allie Locke 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 14-22 41.
GIRARD (65) — Jordan Davied 8 0-0 16, Hadyn Herlocker 3 7-8 15, Danica Kelly 6 0-0 12, Hope McLeod 5 0-0 10, Carly Heatherly 3 2-2 9, Hannah Jones 1 0-2 2, Ashley Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals: 26 10-16 65.
Turnovers — BSHS 24, GHS 8.
Girard boys 59, Baxter Springs 32
BSHS 12 6 7 7 — 32
GHS 8 19 17 15 — 59
BAXTER SPRINGS (32) — Kacey Elias 5 3-4 13, Austin Karnes 5 2-4 12, Jono Crockett 1 2-2 4, Colton Krokroskia 1 0-1 2, Drew Hill 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 8-13 32.
GIRARD (59) — Cody Grilz 4 2-2 13, Devin Alters 5 0-1 11, Zach Murdock 5 0-0 10, Dillon Walsh 3 3-4 9, Trenton Stolte 2 2-2 6, Hunter Peak 2 0-0 6, Kyle Eckelberry 2 0-0 4. Totals: 23 7-11 59.
Turnovers — BSHS 11, GHS 6.
