PRINCETON – Fresh off a 4-0 start to the season, Summers County coach Chad Meador was interested to see how his team would handle one of its toughest challenges of the season.
He left Princeton still confident in his young team, but saw much to work on.
Princeton opened a double-digit lead in the second quarter and led 32-21 at the break before pulling away in the second half of a 71-37 win Thursday at Princeton High.
Shooting troubles plagued both teams in the opening quarter as the Tigers shot just 27 percent inside the arc while Summers shot 27 percent from the field overall.
Unfortunately for the visiting Bobcats, the Tigers found their touch first rebounding for a 47 percent effort from the field in the second quarter, opening the frame on a 13-2 run and allowing the visitors to trim the deficit below 10 just once more.
“Defensive intensity was the key for us,” Princeton coach Matt Smith said. “Getting after it on the defensive end and maximum effort helped us. Listen, we’re not going to make all of our shots, we’re just not. But if our defensive intensity is there and our effort is there then we’re going to make things happen on the offensive end. That’s who we are and we had a few lapses but overall our intensity on the defensive end set us apart.”
The Lady Bobcats took an early lead, going up 4-2 but a 3-pointer courtesy of Kylie Conner helped break a tie for the hosts. While their struggles shooting set them back, the turnover numbers for the visitors were just as alarming. The Tigers’ pressure sped them up, taking them out of their comfort zone as they turned the ball over 14 times in the first half.
“I think the recipe for success for us is to limit turnovers and be a better rebounding team,” Meador said.”If we do that tonight I’m not saying we win the basketball game but it’s a little bit closer than a 30-point margin.”
Rebounding was another area the Bobcats struggled, yielding 14 total offensive rebounds on the evening, losing the battle on the glass 33-27.
“Second-chance opportunities are huge,” Smith said. “We’ve seen what it does to us and now we’ve got our girls attacking the boards. You’ve got everything going this way and the backside rebounding was huge tonight. It’s something we’ve worked on but we’ve got to keep working on it.”
The third quarter effectively ended the game with Princeton outscoring Summers 20-7, holding the Bobcats to just 25 percent shooting from the field. Meanwhile the hosts kept up the intensity, connecting on 8 of their 15 shots inside the arc for a 52-28 advantage heading into the final frame.
For the hosts it was another balanced effort with four different players scoring in double figures and a fifth, Sadie Boggess, netting nine points.
“It’s a group that we took over last year and they’ve bought in to this whole idea.” Smith said. “We’re one. It doesn’t matter who gets what because at the end of the night if Princeton wins, we’re successful and they’ve bought into it and they believe it. They play for each other. As a coach that’s the biggest thing and they do it on the JV and varsity levels. We look for each other, we play hard and we’re unselfish. (Kalyn) Davis had 17 tonight but she might go out next time and have four points but have eight or nine assists. It’s just whatever kid is hot that night and does whatever we need to be successful and that’s what they do.”
Princeton’s Kalyn Davis led all scorers with 17 points while Gracie Harvey paced Summers with 10 points.
Princeton improves to 6-1 and will travel to Riverside on Tuesday. Summers drops to 4-1 and will continue its challenging stretch with a home game against Shady Spring on Monday before hosting defending Class AA champion Wyoming East on Wednesday.
SC: 6 15 7 9 – 37
P: 12 20 20 19 – 71
Summers County (4-1)
Maggie Stover 4, Gracie Harvey 10, Avery Lilly 3, Abby Persinger 6, Liv Meador 6, Sullivan Pivont 6, Jesse Ward 2
Princeton (6-1)
Maddie Still 15, Kylie Conner 10, Autumn Bane 1, Reagan Southers 11, Lauren Parish 5, Halie Guano 3, Kalyn Davis 17, Sadie Boggess 9
3-point goals – SC: 1 (Pivont); P: 8 (Conner 2, Southers 2, Guano 1, Davis 3).
