Gallery by Heather Belcher
Independence girls head basketball coach Mark Cuthbert was a little concerned that his team could be susceptible to ball pressure early in the season.
Monday night when Indy hosted Midland Trail in Coal City, those concerns played out in the first quarter of the contest.
With heavy pressure up top turning steals into scores, the visitors sprinted to a 12-0 lead in the first six minutes and held on for a 42-25 final.
“We are starting to play a little better. We had a really good week of practice,” Midland Trail head coach John Mark Kincaid said. “We are going to keep experimenting with the line-ups, but we have worked really hard on trying to cut down on our turnovers and rebounding better.”
Addison Isaacs opened the scoring for Trail with a steal that she converted into an easy layup. Another steal from the talented freshman was pitched out to Alexis Dozier for layup before Isaacs made it a 6-0 game when she scored on a runner in the lane.
A basket from Meghan Hendrick was followed by scoring drive from Isaacs and jumper from Mia Nuckols for a 12-0 lead with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
“We came out pretty flat and they pressured the guards effectively. We have older kids playing, but they are puppies when it comes to basketball experience,” Cuthbert said. “It was just their fourth game out, counting the scrimmage, so they are still learning. However, when you can’t hit shots, it is really frustrating.”
The home team could not get the game back to single digits in the opening half, but Indy also never let Trail run off and hide either.
Trailing 23-12 at halftime, Independence opened the second half with a quick steal and a layup from senior Alyssa Daniels.
Gill answered the basket for Trail, but two free throws from Chloe Honaker and an end-to-end scoring drive from Sarah Bragg pulled the home team to within seven points.
“We played them even until the last few minutes and we had a good run to open the second half. We got the steal to start out with, but we never got the basket that we need to get the momentum or we would give up an easy layup on the other end that killed our run,” Cuthbert said.
Five more points in the quarter from Gill kept Indy at bay and gave Trail a 30-21 lead after three quarters.
“We make so many mental mistakes. I can’t tell you how many times we will make a hard pass when an easy pass is right there,” Kincaid said. “They want to score so fast. They have to understand when the shots are not falling from the outside, that we have to attack the basket. Everything we did tonight was a little bit better, though. I was proud of how we got better tonight.”
Two free throws from Daniels again cut the lead back to seven points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but it would by Indy’s last gasp of the night.
Stick backs from Gill and freshman Rumor Barnhouse along with a jumper from Isaacs pushed the lead to 13 points with 4:32 to play.
A basket from Daniels made it an 11-point game before Trail closed on a 6-0 run to secure the win.
Isaacs and Gill both finished with 12 points, while Barnhouse added 10 more. Daniels led all scorers for Indy with 14 points.
“We are just really young right now. They will eventually catch on to what we are doing. December is kinda like the preseason for us,” Kincaid said. “Three of my top-six players are (freshmen) and they play like it. They are talented freshmen and they will figure it out eventually. It will just take some time for them to understand what we are doing and figure out how to play.”
Both teams are back in action Wednesday. Midland Trail hosts Richwood, while Independence travels to Montcalm.
MT: 14 9 7 12 – 42
I: 2 10 9 4 -25
Midland Trail 42
Alexis Dozier 2, Mia Nuckols 2, Brylee Stephenson 2, Meghan Gill 12, Rumor Barnhouse 10, Meghan Hendrick 2, Addison Isaacs 12. Totals: 19 2-6 42.
Independence 25
Sarah Bragg 2, Jenna Harvey 2, Alli Hypes 1, Chloe Honaker 4, Alyssa Daniels 14, Mya Shillingburg 2. Totals: 6 13-24 25.
3-pointers: None
