Hico – Sherman head girls basketball coach Rick Saunders wanted his team to slow down Midland Trail senior standout Meghan Gill Wednesday night.
While the Tide accomplished that goal in the first half, what the visitors from Boone County could not do was keep Addison Isaacs in check.
Exploding for 23 points, 20 coming in the opening half, Isaacs led the Patriots to a 42-21 win for their eighth victory in a row on the season.
“We have been playing pretty solid defense all year. We seem to struggle with the offense some because of our youth and inexperience. We always want to be in a hurry,” Midland Trail head coach John Mark Kincaid said. “In the first half we came out like a buzz-saw. The second half we looked like we had three freshmen out there and our youth showed a little bit, but I am really proud of the effort.”
In the first meeting at Sherman, the Tide ran out to a quick lead before a defensive adjustment by the Patriots changed the game.
“We went down about 15 and then we changed to the triangle-and-two and we wound up winning by 15,” Kincaid said.
In the rematch, Kincaid stuck to the same gameplan and Mia Nuckols and Rumor Barnhouse executed it to perfection.
“Rumor Barnhouse really played (Hailea Skeens) really well and Mia Nuckols played (Lauren Guthrie) really well,” Kincaid said. “We ran an inverted triangle-and-two and had them stifled.”
In the first half, the two leading scorers for the Tide were limited to just seven points. It was all the scoring that Sherman could tally in the first 16 minutes.
“They came out with a little triangle-and-two and that hurt because those are our two go-to players,” Saunders said. “We were looking to take (Gill) out. I thought we did a decent job of that, but offensively we never could get going.”
With Gill being swarmed, Isaacs stepped up and scored seven early points to help build an 11-3 lead after the first quarter.
“We are used to getting some shots to go in so we can play fast. We just didn’t play very settled tonight,” Saunders said.
After a strong first quarter, Isaacs then took the game over offensively for the first five minutes of the second quarter.
“(Addison) is dynamic and really explosive. She has a chance to be really good,” Kincaid said.
A drive to the basket opened the quarter and resulted in a three-point play before Isaacs scored on a run-out after a Sherman turnover.
Back-to-back drives weaving through the defense was followed by a blocked shot by Isaacs on the perimeter which she converted into a layup for 11 straight points.
“She hurt us with some dribble penetration,” Saunders said. “There was also a couple of times that we didn’t get back on defense and she got some quick baskets on us. We normally don’t give up those baskets.”
Midland Trail (8-2) led by 19 points at halftime and Sherman could get no closer than 13 points in the second half.
“We played extremely well in the first half, especially defensively and built that big lead,” Kincaid said. “We have to come out in the second half with that same intensity. We kinda looked like freshman and made unforced turnovers.”
Gill ended the night with nine points, while Guthrie managed 11 points. Skeens was held to just three points on the night.
The only two losses of the season so far for Trail came in the first two games on the season against Oak Hill and Nicholas County.
“We have games scheduled with both of them coming up, so I am interested to see how we do against them and if we have improved. We seem to be improving every day,” Kincaid said.
Sherman (1-7) is back in action Thursday night.
“We play Independence tomorrow, so we just have to rebound,” Saunders said. “We are at a point in our schedule where we hope we can get some wins and gain some confidence. Our lack of self confidence is kinda hurting us right now.”
S: 3 4 10 4 – 21
MT: 11 15 6 10 – 42
Sherman 21
Zoey Steele 1, Annika Roop 4, Lauren Guthrie 11, Hailea Skeens 3, Summer Harvey 2. Totals: 6 8-18 21.
Midland Trail 42
Rumor Barnhouse 4, Baylee Stevenson 2, Meghan Gill 9, Addison Isaacs 23, Meagan Hendrick 4. Totals: 18 5-12 42.
3-pointers – S: 1 (Guthrie); MT: 1 (Isaacs).
