Metea Valley gets the start it wanted
After a slow start made things difficult against rival Neuqua Valley earlier this week, Metea Valley was determined to get out fast against another girls basketball rival on Saturday.
The Mustangs accomplished the goal, starting strong and eventually knocking off host Waubonsie Valley 50-30 Saturday afternoon in Aurora. Metea Valley (4-4, 1-1) jumped ahead 9-1, led by 9 after one quarter and held a 28-13 lead at the half.
Metea Valley guard Lisa Logan sparked the fast start, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter and helping a pressure defense force the Warriors into 10 first-half turnovers.
"I thought we had a great start today," said Logan, who led all scorers with 12 points on four 3s in the first half. "We just took our intensity from our defense from the Neuqua game and we put it into this game. We knew we were coming out full-court man and we wanted to put some pressure on them right away and I think that's exactly what we did."
Mustangs coach Cedric Williams has had no complaints about his team's effort this season, he just wanted to see the players come out a little better than they have in a couple of the team's losses.
"We came out making sure we take care of the little things," he said, noting it was nice to build an 18-9 lead after one quarter. "Make sure we cut down on the turnovers and make sure you're communicating on defense and playing with some intensity and some passion. I think they came out and did that."
With Logan scoring from the perimeter and Sidney Bobo and Brianna Hall scoring inside, the Mustangs offense was sharp. The same could not be said for the Warriors attack, as the home team made just 3 of 21 shots in the first half, with a number of close-range shots failing to go down.
"We talked at halftime that we had something like nine offensive rebounds. We must have shot it five, six times from point-blank range in that first quarter (and missed)," said Warriors coach David Owles, whose team dropped to 0-8, 0-3 in the Upstate Eight Valley Division. "We got the opening tip, we ran it exactly the way we wanted, and we missed a layup. The effort's there, we just haven't mastered the execution part yet."
The Warriors played well while outscoring Metea Valley 9-8 in the third quarter, but it was too little, too late. Lucinda Williamson scored two baskets inside late in the quarter as the Warriors closed to gap to 36-22.
Junior forward Abby Phillips, who paced the Warriors with 7 points, said the team needs to keep fighting and then confidence and better results should follow.
"It was hard for us finishing. We had a lot of shots that just weren't going in for us," she said. "We need to go in and be strong and we just need confidence to be able to do everything possible to help the team."