The Boone Central girls basketball team took offense at having its 10-game winning streak stopped.
After struggling to score points in a 46-43 overtime loss at Columbus Scotus Thursday, Boone Central blitzed visiting Ord Friday to improve to 12-3.
The Lady Cardinals will host Norfolk Catholic for a key Mid-State Conference contest Thursday, then travel to Battle Creek Friday before beginning the annual conference tournament in Norfolk Jan. 31.
With two programs known for their ferocious approach to defense, no one was expecting a lot of points to be scored Thursday night in Columbus.
Still, the Boone Central Lady Cardinals were disappointed in their offensive performance, which contributed to a 46-43 overtime loss that snapped a 10-game win streak.
“Despite an intense defensive effort, we just did not have a good offensive performance,” acknowledged Boone Central Coach Mike Kennedy. “We were very stagnant with ball movement and player movement and this forced us into low percentage shots, very few post touches and a poor offensive output for three quarters.
“We showed the heart of a champion by battling back in the fourth quarter, but could not overcome a free throw attempt deficit of 25 to get this one in the win column.”
Boone Central took out its frustrations Friday night on a helpless Ord outfit, clamping down defensively and using an aggressive offensive attack to blitz the Chants 67-45.
The Lady Cards took a 17-9 lead in the opening quarter and opened a 39-20 gap by intermission.
“I am extremely pleased with how well we scored the ball in this game. It was a good sign to come back strong offensively,” Kennedy praised. “We had 10 players score in this game and we shot the ball well as a team.”
Indeed. Boone Central hit 27-of-62 field goal attempts (43.5%), 7-of-20 3-point tries (35%) and 6-of-12 free throws. The Cards also dominated defensively, forcing 30 Ord turnovers and outrebounding the visitors 36-29.
“Emily Carder gave us a huge boost in the first half of this game and Bobbi Beckwith had an outstanding night shooting the ball,” Kennedy added.
While Kennedy was pleased with Boone Central’s bounceback performance, he noted there were still areas for the Cardinals to improve.
“We shot 17 free throws combined in the two games this week, compared to our opponents attempting 63,” he said. “We will work hard to address this disparity from both the defensive and offensive perspective.
“We need to learn that lesson from these two games.”
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