After a slow start in the Bennington Holiday Tournament, Boone Central/Newman Grove fought back to claim a gritty 46-43 victory over Adams Central in Friday’s opening round. The Lady Cards again played well defensively in Saturday’s final, but could not muster enough offense in a 46-29 loss to Class B host Bennington.
BCNG was staring at a 10-point deficit after eight minutes of play in their opener, but showed determination and tenaciousness to battle back and top tough Adams Central (7-3).
“After a six-day break, our girls struggled in the opening minutes. The sluggish start saw us down 19-9,” noted Cardinal Coach Andy Imus. “It was a combination of things. Adams Central shot extremely well, we struggled with defensive rebounding and their 1-3-1 zone brought back flashbacks of the Lakeview game.
“The girls showed great grit in the second quarter, however, and a switch to a 1-3-1 zone press caused Adams Central fits. We outscored them 11-5 in the quarter and pulled within 24-20 on Marysa Duerksen’s layup at the buzzer.
“Adam Central ran a varied box-and-one in addition to the 1-3-1, which left our guards in position to make plays.
“Kylee Rasmussen answered the challenge with a nine-point third quarter,” Imus praised. “Kylee became much more aggressive in the high post area and found some momentum with 8-9 foot jump shots.We continued some momentum in the fourth quarter and kept the lead. We had a hard time putting them away from the free throw line, but made enough plays down the stretch to win.
“Our zone press caused them fits. However, we gave up too many offensive rebounds and cannot afford to take time off getting back in defensive transition.
“A great team win!”
Boone Central/Newman Grove (5-4) could not get its offensive engine cranked up Saturday, dropping a 46-29 decision to Bennington (5-4) in the tourney final.
“We had a very slow start. We let their physicality bother us and lost our aggressiveness on the offensive end,” Imus commented. “We didn’t execute offensively in terms of spacing and flow. We need more consistency on the offensive end.
“I’m very positive about our defense, for the most part. We had good effort and knew Bennington had a drive-first mentality. We did allow some frustration offensively carry over to the defensive side, but I’m still proud of the effort.
“We’ll continue to stress consistency in our daily approach to practice – details on the small stuff. Our offensive principles need carried over from practices to games.”
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