(Atlantic) The Atlantic girl’s basketball team picked up their third straight win with a 49-37 win over Shenandoah on Tuesday night at Atlantic.
“I thought our girls did a tremendous job from the get-go,” said Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason. “We came out with an early run and didn’t look back after that. The last time we matched up against Shenandoah, we played a 2-3 zone and packed it in to take away their two post players. Shenandoah’s been shooting the three-ball a lot better and, on Monday night, hit nine threes against Clarinda. We didn’t want that to happen tonight. So we countered with a 1-2-2 pressure defense, and we’re starting to run that a lot better.”
The Trojans started fast with a 9-2 run in the first quarter. The Fillies countered with 10-straight points and grabbed a 10-9 lead with 3:25 left in the first frame on Macey Finlay’s two three-point shots to fuel Shenandoah’s run, but that would be the visitors only lead of the ballgame. Patyn Harter fueled an 11-2 scoring drive to end the quarter with 14-points. Harter finished the game with 15.
Atlantic increased their lead to 12-points twice in the second quarter and capped off the period with a 34-23 advantage at the break. Maddie Huddleson came off the bench and sparked the offense with eight points, and two of the baskets came from beyond the three-point arc. Huddleson ended the contest with 8-points all in the second quarter.
Ava Wolf, the Fillies 5’11 post player, scored six third-quarter points from inside the block and brought her team within four points 36-32, but the Trojans countered with six straight led by Jada Jensen’s six points. The junior guard finished the game with 20-points to lead all scorers.
“They ran a box, and one on Jada, and she finished with 20-points and switched to a triangle and two to limit Paytn, and she finished with 15,” said Vargason. “Harter didn’t score much in the second half, but other people stepped up. Maddie Huddleson had some big shots, Woodward hit a fifteen-footer, Guyer played a tremendous game, and Claire Pellett did a great job for us. Her minutes are limited, but when she goes in, she’s fierce.”
Atlantic opened a fourteen-point lead in the final frame and polished off the game with a 49-37 victory. The Trojans improve to 7-10 overall, Shenandoah falls to 8-8 on the season.
Atlantic travels to St. Albert on Friday night. Shenandoah hosts Denison-Schleswig.
