Hampshire climbs back to .500
BYRON Instead of kicking back on the holiday, the Hampshire girls basketball team was hard at work Monday at the Byron Martin Luther King, Jr., Tournament.
In the first of 2 games during the day, the Whip-Purs started strong on the way to downing Sterling Newman, 50-33. Hampshire then came back to notch a 47-36 win over host Byron, a victory that brought the Whips to .500 for the season at 10-10 and wins in 3 of their 4 games at the Byron event.
Jennifer Dumoulin led the way for Hampshire, scoring from both inside and outside on the way to 22 points against Sterling Newman. Michelle Dumoulin was in foul trouble most of the afternoon but finished with 9 points before fouling out with 4 minutes left.
Elizabeth Panzica had 6 rebounds and 4 points, and Abby Burke added 6 points off the bench for Hampshire.
Despite the 1 p.m. starting time, the Whips were ready to go from the opening tip. They led 7-1 and slowly pulled away with a series of mini-runs throughout the game.
"We woke up early," said Jennifer Dumoulin. "Normally we have a hard time doing that, but we did a good job today of getting into it right away."
Leading 21-13 midway through the second quarter, Hampshire closed the half on a 9-1 run. Jennifer Dumoulin made 6 straight free throws during the run, and Tiffany Bentley's 3-pointer accounted for the rest of the points.
Then, after Newman scored the first 6 points of the second half, the Whips closed the third quarter on an 11-2 run to break the game wide open.
Hampshire had just 9 players in uniform, but all saw action and 7 scored.
"We got off to a great start, and that was key," said Hampshire coach Ed Haugens. "And they were very unselfish as a team. They shared the ball pretty well."
Haugens wasn't so thrilled with a slew of turnovers in the second half, but the Whips never let the choppy stretches go on too long.
Anna Grove had 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Comets. Mary Alice Oswalt added 8 points and 7 rebounds.
In the win over Byron, Panzica scored 12 points to lead Hampshire, while Michelle Dumoulin had 11 and Jen Dumoulin 8. Bentley also added 8 points in the win for the Whips.
"It's nice to be .500," Haugens said. "We're looking to improve."