Warrior girls undone by lack of offense, turnovers
Brylee Erickson works past an MFL MarMac defender in Central’s 57-29 loss in Monona on Jan. 28. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Katie Royer attempts a basket in last week's game at MFL MarMac.
Blair Scherf defends against a Bulldog shot attempt.
Oakley Armstrong scans for an open teammate in the Jan. 28 game at MFL MarMac.
Natalya Singleton tries to stop Bulldog Ava Kishman from reaching the basket.
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
Last week was a tough one for the Central girls basketball team, starting on the road against conference-leading MFL MarMac on Jan. 28.
Even though the game started well for the Warriors, who jumped out to a 5-2 lead after Oakley Armstrong made a pair of free throws and Katie Royer hit a three-pointer for several of her seven points, it took a turn around the five-minute mark.
Central lost the lead and the offense scored just one more point in the quarter, on a free throw by Royer. The Warriors also committed five of their 33 total turnovers and trailed 14-6 as the period concluded.
Central came out swinging in the second quarter, but a combination of turnovers, shots rimming out and the Bulldogs’ defense held them to just five points. They came on a put back by Blair Scherf, who finished with four rebounds and seven points, and another three-pointer by Royer. Central was down 33-8 at halftime.
The offensive pace slowed for the Bulldogs in the third quarter, but even after Scherf and Brylee Erickson, who finished with five points, nailed shots from the corner and Scherf added a deep two-point jumper, the Warriors couldn’t close the gap while the Bulldogs went scoreless for several minutes. The quarter closed with the Warriors down 46-19.
Central scored 10 points in the final period, including a three-pointer by Mya Gregerson and a layup from an unusually quiet Layla Embretson, who scored just two points in the contest. Armstrong added a three and Erickson finished a layup off a steal and pass from Armstrong, but the Warriors fell 57-29.
The Warriors shot 35.7 percent from the field, including 31.6 percent on three point shots.
“MFL MarMac brought a level of intensity, which we knew they would. We did not handle that pressure defense as a collective unit well. We didn’t get into offensive rhythm due to the pressure and number of turnovers,” said coach Mark Wiley.
Shooting woes continued Jan. 31 versus Kee. The Warriors found themselves down 7-0 in the first two minutes, but battled back, eventually tying the game 10-10. The comeback was fueled by a pair of free throws by Royer and eight points from Erickson, including two big threes and a baseline drive for two points. Central had some chances to pull ahead but couldn’t connect, and Kee went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter with an 18-10 lead.
The second period was scoreless for nearly four minutes, until Kee hit a bucket and score nine more before the quarter was over. Central was unable to take advantage of Kee’s scoring drought and managed just three points in the quarter, with free throws from Royer and Erickson. Kee took a 26-13 lead into halftime.
The third period was another low scoring eight minutes, as both offenses struggled to maintain possession. Kee scored nine points to Central’s eight, with all coming from Embretson and Scherf. The Warriors were behind 35-21 after three quarters.
Central was outscored 10-5 in the final quarter, with those five points coming on a three-pointer by Armstrong and a basket by Erickson on a Royer pass. The Warriors lost 45-26.
Embretson had a season high in rebounds with nine and Scherf finished with eight. Armstrong led the Warriors with four assists and Erickson had a team-high nine points. As a team, Central shot just 22.2 percent from the field and went four for 24 on three-point attempts.
“Taking care of the basketball was our weakness this week, as we had a lot of unforced turnovers in both games. We defensively played well in the second half of the MFL MarMac game and also throughout the entire Kee High game. We had a tough time scoring in the second quarter in both games due to the number of turnovers we had,” Wiley said.
The upcoming schedule for the Warriors (9-11) included a road game against the Waukon Indians (11-6) on Feb. 3, then a Feb. 7 game and senior night at home versus South Winneshiek (8-10).
