Cary-Grove 7-0 after routing Grant
Balanced scoring. Stifling, aggressive defense.
You get the picture.
Cary-Grove was clicking on all cylinders in posting an impressive 63-33 nonconference girls basketball win over Grant in Cary Friday night. The Trojans remain undefeated on the season at 7-0.
"We have 11 kids who can play and who are battling for playing time," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "The kids know they have to play hard for 32 minutes in games and play hard in practice every day. They can't afford to let down. This win was a huge step up for us. We established our defensive pressure early and forced some turnovers which turned into easy baskets. On offense, we are going to turn the ball over because we play up tempo. But we have a lot of weapons and can score inside or outside."
Claire Jakubicek paced the Trojans with 19 points, 15 in the first half to go along with 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
"We have been working hard for this game because we knew Grant is a strong team," said Jakubicek. "We were aggressive on defense and rotated well. My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball in good position to score."
Liz Bart added 15 points with a pair of 3-pointers for the winners while Meg Straumann scored 9 points with 4 assists and 3 steals.
The Trojans' defense forced 31 Bulldog turnovers and turned 15 of those miscues into layup baskets. Grant was ice cold from the floor, connecting on only 14-of-54 shots for 26 percent shooting. The Bulldogs connected on only 2-of-10 shots from 3-point range for 20 percent.
The Trojans broke the game open in the second quarter. Holding a narrow 21-15 lead, Cary-Grove scored 12 straight points to take control of the game. Making 5-of-7 shots from the field, Jakubicek scored 6 points and Laura Chianakas canned a pair of 3-pointers as the Trojans led 33-15 with 1:43 left in the first half.
Holding a 38-21 halftime lead, Cary-Grove made sure there wouldn't be a Grant comeback by starting the second half with a 10-2 run.
Bart hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jakubicek drove to the basket for 2 layups as the Trojans led 48-23 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Heather Chapman led Grant with 8 points and 10 rebounds.