Hampshire rolls by Woodstock North
With a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division showdown at Prairie Ridge looming Friday night, Hampshire girls basketball coach Mike Featherly had to wonder whether his Whip-Purs would look past Fox Division foe Woodstock North Tuesday night.
No need to worry.
Holding the visiting Thunder to 7 field goals, the host Whip-Purs were able to produce a 48-24 victory.
"We had a little bit of a sloppy practice on Monday," said Featherly. "The kids were readjusting to getting up early and going to school again. We didn't mention the PR game at all. I liked our focus tonight and our defensive effort. Woodstock North has some big girls who can score inside and we did a good job of clogging the lanes."
Woodstock North (7-8, 1-3), which had trouble penetrating Hampshire's defense, could only connect on 7-of-30 shots from the floor for 23 percent. The Thunder only made 1-of-10 from 3-point range.
Hampshire, which led 12-4 after 8 minutes on a layup by Meagan Heine at the buzzer, seized control of the game in the second quarter.
Leading 16-6 early in the second quarter, the Whip-Purs scored 13 consecutive points to take a 29-6 advantage with 1:33 left before intermission.
Making 6-of-8 shots from the field for 75 percent during the pivotal 13-0 surge, Allie Peters led the way with 6 points and Emma Benoit chipped in 4 points. Benoit's buzzer-beater to end the first half gave Hampshire a 31-8 halftime advantage.
The Whip-Purs' biggest lead of the game was 32, 46-14, after a 12-footer from Heine with 1:29 remaining in the contest.
Benoit, who played less than 3 quarters, paced Hampshire with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Heine came off the bench to score 8 points with 7 rebounds.
"I have accepted my role off the bench," said Heine. "The coaches want me to bring fire and intensity when I come into the game. I hit some shots early which gave me a lot of confidence."
Featherly likes Heine's role.
"Meagan has really improved as the season has gone on," said the Hampshire coach. "We certainly trust her when we put her in the game."
Hampshire (13-4, 4-1) also got 8 points from Nikki Dumoulin and 7 from Rachel Dumoulin.
Haley Ahr paced the Thunder with 10 points and 12 rebounds