Lady Pioneers turn up the pressure in 76-34 win
CARMICHAELS — Trailing 14-12 at the end of the opening quarter, the West Greene girls basketball squad turned up the pressure and found their offense over the final three quarters, defeating Carmichaels, 76-34, Wednesday night in non-section action.
The Lady Pioneers (3-0) held a 64-20 scoring advantage in the final 24 minutes, led by four players in double figures. West Greene hosts Washington on Friday in non-section play.
“For some reason we lacked intensity in the first quarter,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “Carmichaels is always a hard place to play and they are a tough team. Sometimes you are just due for a bad quarter. We turned it around in the middle quarters and I liked how the kids responded to some early adversity.”
McKenna Lampe collected a game-high 20 points, followed by 16 from her twin sister Madison. Kaitlin Rizor and Elizabeth Brudnock totaled 10 points each in the win.
Kristina Aeschbacher, who didn’t play in the second half after sustaining a lower-body injury in the final minute of the second quarter, led the Lady Mikes (2-2) with nine points. Jessica Phillips and Emma Hyatt added seven and six points, respectively.
“If you want to be successful against West Greene, you have to be able to break their press consistently,” Carmichaels coach Ian McCombs said. “I think we came out with confidence in the first quarter and were not intimidated by their pressure. We were fired up and ready to play. West Greene made some adjustments and I think their press just wore us down.”
Carmichaels opens Section 3-AA action on Thursday at Greensburg Central Catholic.
The visitors carried an early 6-4 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but the Lady Mikes scored six of the next seven points and held a 14-12 lead after a late bucket by Kylie Sinn to end the frame.
After Carmichaels scored four of the opening five points of the second stanza, West Greene countered with a 16-1 run that tilted all of the momentum back to the Lady Pioneers. West Greene scored six of the next 10 points and carried a 35-23 lead into halftime.
“Our press just wears teams down,” Watson said. “It’s definitely a cumulative effect and we pride ourselves on being relentless on defense and guarding every inch of that court. We are pretty happy with our offense so far this season. We have been starting two freshmen at times, and I think the kids are just adjusting to the lineup.”
The Lady Pioneers started the third period with a 16-2 run, aided by a couple of turnovers due to their full-court press and some nice ball movement in transition.
McKenna Lampe compiled 11 points in the quarter and West Greene held a 62-29 edge going into the fourth quarter.
“Versatility is key for us,” Watson said. “A lot of our players can be guards or bigs. At times tonight we had a lineup with five guards and anyone of them could run the point. That is just tough to defend. When you have that balance, teams can’t run junk defenses against you. I just really like our options on offense this season.”
The Lady Pioneers held a 14-5 scoring advantage in the final eight minutes of regulation.
“We hung in there and fought the whole game,” McCombs said. “You have to be patient and be able to maintain your ground. If you do the simple things you can break the press. You have to make the strong pass and you can’t go backwards. This will definitely be a learning tool for us.”