PORTSMOUTH — Championship-deciding contests are always going to come down to who can dig in and get stops on the defensive end of the floor.
If the Green Bobcats’ girls basketball program ends up successful in its quest to repeat as SOC I Champions, Green will certainly look to its defensive effort in the first half of its SOC I contest against the Notre Dame Titans’ girls basketball Monday evening as a large reason why it was able to do so.
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Melissa Knapp’s group was effective once again as Green hit four first-quarter threes offensively and held Notre Dame to nine first-half points defensively, and despite a fantastic effort by the Lady Titans that saw Notre Dame whittle a 15-point first half deficit (24-9) down to a 36-28 count midway through the fourth quarter, the double-figure scoring trio’s efforts of Abbie Knapp, Elizabeth McBee and Laney Strickland proved to be enough in the Lady ‘Cats’ 43-32 victory over the Lady Titans in a grudge match between the two SOC I powers in a conference matchup that was held at Notre Dame High School in Portsmouth.
For veteran head coach Melissa Knapp, the Lady ‘Cats’ leader was thrilled with how Green made Notre Dame work for every shot in the opening half of competition en route to establishing a commanding 15-point advantage at the halftime break.
“Our defense in the first half was excellent,” Knapp said. “Between Ava Abrams and Destiny Alexander, they both did a great job on Jaysa (Bryant), and that was the gameplan and a huge reason why we were able to come out with the win. She’s a heck of a player and she can score. I was very proud of that. We still have stuff to work on tomorrow in practice, for sure.”
However, Notre Dame head coach Jason Smith could say the same about his team’s defensive effort. After all, the Lady Titans held an effective and efficient offensive attack, led by Knapp, McBee and Strickland, to just 19 second-half points en route to outscoring Green by four, 23-19, over the final two stanzas of the contest.
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“I was so proud of our effort and so proud of our defense,” Smith said. “When you hold a team with two six-footers and three double-figure scorers that can play inside and outside and hold them to 43 points, I’ll take it. Our effort was outstanding. We just couldn’t buy shots in the first half and were really cold. I’m not into moral victories, but I was very proud of our kids. We get to play them one more time, and I’m excited about where we’re going.”
In the opening quarter, however, it was Green who proved to be firing on all cylinders.
Patient in its execution and playing with excellent spacing across the floor while playing ball-on-a-string defense, the Lady ‘Cats looked sharp in an opening quarter where Green held Notre Dame without a field goal over the first 4:22 of the opening quarter before Jaysa Bryant got Notre Dame on the scoreboard after hitting a tough layup in the lane.
“The first quarter was the best quarter that we played,” Knapp said. “In the second half, we were forcing shots. We were forcing a lot, but I get that. It was Laney (Strickland’s) home last year, so emotions were running high. I think everybody played a great basketball game. I’m just never satisfied because our staff and I know the potential of this team. We do have some things that we need to fix.”
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Outside of the 3:37 and 2:49 marks of the first quarter, however, which were both layups converted by Bryant, Green effectively cut off every Notre Dame drive and contested every shot put up by the Lady Titans in the first frame.
Between Knapp and McBee offensively, the Lady ‘Cats then added in four three-pointers as the duo combined to go 4-of-7 from downtown in the opening quarter, with both players hitting two threes apiece in the opening 6:36 of the contest to put Green ahead by a 12-4 margin.
McBee then added in a bucket off of a putback with 43 seconds left in the first quarter, giving the talented hooper eight of her 13 points in the opening frame alone as the Lady ‘Cats jumped out ahead to a 14-4 lead through the first eight minutes of play.
“Elizabeth is what I call ‘the Silent Assassin,’” Knapp said. “She doesn’t get enough respect from the other teams that she deserves. Everybody talks about Laney and everybody talks about Abbie, but I have three players averaging in double-figures. From Division VII all the way up, it’s hard to guard three different kids who are in double-figures. That’s what sets us apart from a lot of teams.”
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Following a second quarter that saw Knapp and Strickland combine for each of Green’s 10 tallies, the Lady ‘Cats were able to double up the Lady Titans by a 10-5 margin in the quarter en route to grabbing a 24-9 halftime advantage.
However, Bryant — and Notre Dame — never gave in. Scoring 12 of the Lady Titans’ first 16 points, the 5-11 junior guard simply kept coming at the Green defense.
Whether it was pull up three-pointers, difficult finishes on committed drives in the lane, converting at the free throw line or coming off of screens and hitting shots, Bryant had the full offensive arsenal working.
Her play was huge as Notre Dame went on a 7-2 run to begin the third quarter, helping the Lady Titans cut the 24-9 halftime deficit to a 26-16 Green lead.
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Facing a wall of defenders and added attention throughout the night, the talented hooper, who came in averaging 26.3 points and eight rebounds for Notre Dame, matched Knapp on the opposite side with a game-high 20 points.
“We had to work hard to get her shots tonight,” Smith said. “In averaging the numbers that she is with facing box-and-ones every night, she’s playing outstanding. (On Monday), Jaysa had two or three players on her, and Green was hedging everything effectively. She just works extremely hard. I just can’t say enough about her. She never quits. She gets to the foul line and is effective there. She can score at all three levels. She’s just a great young talent.”
Green answered the third-quarter spurt effectively by going on a quarter-ending 6-1 run that pushed the Lady ‘Cats’ lead back out to 15, 32-17, at the end of the third quarter of play, with Strickland following up her own missed jumper by beating all players to the rebound and putting the ball off glass and in as both teams finished with an eight-point frame.
However, Notre Dame wasn’t finished.
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Trailing by the aforementioned 15-point margin, the Lady Titans began the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run with Bryant and fellow starter Sophie Phillips spraying in three-pointers during the spurt with the help of Alayla Soard, who took on primary ballhandling responsibilities for Notre Dame in an effort to free up Bryant further offensively.
When Notre Dame sophomore Audrey Bach canned a near corner trey in front of her own bench with 3:28 to go, the Lady Titans had turned the 32-17 third-quarter deficit into a single-digit contest, 36-28, with 3:28 to play.
“To save Jaysa energy, we played her off of the ball and had her come off single and double screens to get her moving downhill,” Smith said. “We did a great job of getting going in the second half. Sophie is a player I can’t say enough about. Her shot was a little off tonight, but the kid battles. She still has a black eye from last week. She’s above 5-7, 5-8, but she gets inside and scraps and always has a positive attitude. Alayla is the best kid. Her work ethic and attitude is outstanding and she does things that go beyond the box score. We’re only going to get better going forward.”
Showing that they weren’t rattled by the run, however, Green proceeded to put the clamps down.
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Offensively, McBee answered less than 45 seconds later with a big layup in offensive transition after a missed opportunity by Notre Dame to move back ahead by double-digits, and defensively, the Lady ‘Cats held the Lady Titans to four points over the final 3:27, keeping the double-digit lead for good en route to the win.
With the victory, Green moved to 6-1 overall and started its SOC I slate 3-0 ahead of what will be another challenging stretch of contests. Three of the Lady ‘Cats’ next four games are nonconference bouts, all of which come against schools against larger enrollment sizes in Greenup County, Ky. (Dec. 27), South Webster (Dec. 29) and Marietta (Jan. 10).
“The goal this season was to toughen our schedule,” Knapp said. “I would’ve tried to toughen it more than I could, it’s just difficult to get all across the state. Honestly, our league is better, in a lot of aspects, than most people give credit for. Most people say, ‘Oh, the SOC I is weak.’ This league’s not weak. There are a lot of SOC I teams that have beat SOC II teams. Our wins against Clay, New Boston and Notre Dame have come against good teams. We’ve got some really tough games coming up, and that’s only going to help us when the postseason comes around.”
As for Notre Dame, the Lady Titans certainly sit in a great position to contend themselves. Still 5-2 on the year after the loss, Notre Dame’s only additional setback was a three-point defeat to Greenup County (Ky.), 63-60, back on Dec. 1 at home.
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“If we shore up some things that we made mistakes on in the first half, we’re right there,” Smith said. “We outscored them in the second half, so we won the second half. The more reps we get and the more faith and belief in continuing to do what we’re doing as a team, I like our chances. I like our start. I’m pretty happy with a 5-2 start at the break. I think we can get some moral wins and I think we can make a deep run if we keep improving.”
