GIRLS BASKETBALL: Stingy defense powers CR-B girls to win over Paton-Churdan

Crusaders hold Rockets to five second half points, including 4Q shutout

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor 

sports@beeherald.com

@BrandonJHurley

COON RAPIDS – Coon Rapids-Bayard girls’ basketball head coach Jessica Heydon was not too pleased with her team’s effort in the first half Tuesday, Dec. 20. 

Up just two at the break over Paton-Churdan and a mere 20 points on the scoreboard, the head coach sternly urged her girls to pick it up. 

And boy did that pep talk sure ever start a fire as the Crusaders burst out of the locker room and put together a nearly perfect second half outscoring the Rockets 27-5 - keeping P-C off the fourth quarter scoreboard all together, en route to a 47-23 victory over the Rockets. 

“I told them it was ridiculous that we only had 20 points in the first half,” Heydon said. “We just weren’t executing. We let them get to the free throw line. I think they only had four field goals and three of them were three-pointers and that’s really why they were in the game at that point.”

CR-B senior Tina Lair-Van Meter recorded yet another double-double, pouring in 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting while snagging 10 rebounds. She also recorded a team-high three blocks. 

“We struggled with (Tina Lair-Van Meter). She did a good job against us,” Paton-Churdan head coach Tom Kennedy said. “We’ve got to work on our defense. That’s another thing, we aren’t as good as I think we are going to be. 

They hurt us inside, they out-rebounded us by quite a bit. We are going to have to get better at that if we want to get some victories. 

The Crusaders hauled in 20 more boards than Paton-Churdan – a 40-20 edge – thanks to 20 combined rebounds from Lair-Van Meter and Tiara Janssen. 

Grace Geisler led the Rockets in rebounding with six boards. 

Both teams struggled to score in the opening moments as CR-B finally scored to break the 0-0 tie with 5:11 left in the first. The Crusaders built a slim 6-3 lead until Paton-Churdan strung together a 5-0 run thanks to a three and a pair of free throws for an 8-6 lead. CR-B closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 12-8 lead into the second frame, four of which came in the final 15 seconds as Lair-Van Meter stole a pass in the back court and converted on an easy fast break layup. 

Fouls proved to be a big difference-maker in the second quarter as P-C entered the bonus with five minutes remaining in the half. The Rockets knocked down four freebies to tie the game at 12 while turnovers and fouls continued to plague the pace of the game. The two squads would tie again at 14 before CR-B took a bit of control.

Jade Hays, the Crusaders’ second leading scorer at 9.8 points per game, connected on her only bucket of the night - a three at the top of the key, to give the Crusaders a 20-18 half time edge. 

What looked like a chance for Paton-Churdan to steal its first victory of the season – the Rockets have now lost their first six games – quickly vanished as the home town defense locked down and Lair-Van Meter and her teammates found success in the paint. The height and length of CR-B wore on the visiting Rockets. 

“We went straight man-to-man,” Heydon said. “They didn’t handle the ball very well and I think that was a big part of it. Our defense was spot on tonight. We went man-to-man to limit them on their outside shots and if we played smart defensively, we wouldn’t let them get to the line.”

The Crusaders extended their lead early in the third as Lair-Van Meter converted on back-to-back buckets and their defense focused on preventing the outside shot. CR-B ripped off an 8-2 run in the opening four minutes of the half. 

That tight CR-B defense was something Paton-Churdan head coach Tom Kennedy was wary of. 

It was a case of tough defense and a change in their offensive philosophy, Kennedy said. 

“To be honest, we haven’t had a lot of practice time with our man offense. We are trying to put in a new offense right now and we struggled with it,” the coach said. “In the long run, we will be better off doing it, but in the short run tonight, it was not beneficial to our girls to try and run that. 

We are trying to think big picture and we think (a new offense) is the best answer.” 

CR-B led 32-23 after three quarters and outscored the Rockets 15-0 in the final period. P-C mustered just three points over the final 12 minutes of game time. 

Megan Carey led Paton-Churdan in scoring with 10 points – only three in the second half, while fellow sophomore Jenna Beyers added nine points – seven of which came in the first half as well. Only three Rocket players registered a point on the scoreboard, as Geisler proved the other four points, including a three-pointer. 

The CR-B defense held the Rockets to 19 percent from the field as they connected on just six of their 31 shots, including just a pair of two point attempts. 

“We are trying to get the ball inside, get more movement with a lot of cutters,” Kennedy said of the new offensive game plan. Get some spacing. Right now, we are struggling where to be. They aren’t thinking about cutting for scores, they are (worried) about where they are supposed to be. 

They are working hard and I’m proud of the effort I get.” 

The Crusaders move to 3-5 on the season while P-C drops to 0-6. 

Paton-Churdan has two weeks off before they take on winless Ar-We-Va Tuesday, Jan. 3 at home. Kennedy knows there is plenty to work on in the mean time. The Rockets are still figuring out their roles and Kennedy knows they will find them soon. 

“We are missing a lot of girls (from last year) that did a lot of ball handling and shooting,” the coach said. “We’ve got the talent to do it but they have to develop the new role. They are stepping into it and starting to get better.” 

Beyers enters the Christmas break as  Rockets’ leading scorer at 10.6 points per game. She is also the team’s leading rebounder, hauling in an even seven boards per game. Megan Carey leads Paton-Churdan with 3.6 steals per game. Exira-EHK is atop the Rolling Valley Conference standings at 8-0 on the year.

“We are in a stage where it hurts right now because we don’t have a lot of experience at the key positions,” Kennedy said. “We are gaining it and I think we will be fine if we keep their heads up. There will be some rough spots along the way.”

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