Cross likes what she sees in Lady Plainsmen
While the Lady Plainsmen opened the season 0-2, falling to Hershey and Wray, Colorado, Coach Katie Cross liked what she saw from her team in the opening weekend of play.
She was pleased with the progress her team has made compared to where they ended the season last year.
This year’s opening game with Hershey was in stark contrast to last year when Cross was playing nearly all freshmen.
Hershey came out with a press but the Lady Plainsmen responded well to the pressure. By the end of the first quarter, they held an 8-7 lead.
That success continued into the second quarter and Hershey needed a 3-pointer near the end of the half to go up 19-17 at half.
The Lady Plainsmen kept the game close early in the third quarter before Hershey pulled away 14 in the third and 13 in the fourth, making the final score 46-29.
Cross said they had been working hard on breaking the press and will continue to do so.
Rylie Huff handled the ball well and got help from Meghan Bishop.
Samantha Patrick showed her ability to play aggressively and led the team in scoring with 10.
Cross was pleased with the rebounding efforts of Dani Burge and added that Hanna Kempf played well on both ends of the court.
Perkins County 29
2 PT. 3 PT. FT/
FG FG FTA F TP
Hannah Kempf 0 0 2-2 5 2
Meghan Bishop 2 1 0-0 3 7
Rylie Huff 1 0 3-6 2 5
Samantha Patrick 4 0 2-5 5 10
Hallie Fisher 0 0 2-6 4 2
Dani Burge 1 0 1-5 2 3
TOTALS 8 1 10-24 21 29
Hershey 46
Hershey’s totals: 2 pt. FG—12; 3 pt. FG—4; FT/FTA—10-27; Fouls—19; TP—46.
Points by quarters:
Perkins County 8 9 7 5—29
Hershey 7 12 14 13—46
Wray
Things didn’t go quite as well at Wray on Friday.
While the Lady Plainsmen handled the zone press of Hershey well, Wray put pressure on the passing lanes and the Lady Plainsmen didn’t respond well, Cross said.
It was a different kind of pressure than they saw the night before and they had trouble taking care of the ball, she noted.
Wray held Perkins County to just four points in the first and seven in the second en route to a 31-11 halftime lead.
Defensively, the Lady Plainsmen held Wray to 29 in the second half. Cross said holding them to 60 was a big accomplishment, given Wray is a fast, strong team.
Despite the loss, Cross said it was a good learning opportunity for her girls. She said it exposed some areas they have to work on but the overall progress is a good sign.
Perkins County 20
2 PT. 3 PT. FT/
FG FG FTA F TP
Hannah Kempf 0 0 1-2 4 1
Meghan Bishop 0 1 1-2 0 4
Rylie Huff 0 1 1-2 2 4
Samantha Patrick 0 0 0-4 0 0
Hallie Fisher 2 0 0-0 2 4
Dani Burge 1 0 1-2 3 3
Kylie Tucker 1 0 0-0 1 2
Kaylee Dilsaver 0 0 2-2 1 2
TOTALS 4 2 6-14 13 20
Wray 60
Wray’s totals: 2 pt. FG—26; 3 pt. FG—1; FT/FTA—5-11; Fouls—18; TP—60.
Points by quarters:
Perkins County 22 8 10 5—45
Wray 20 33 20 13—86
Kimball and Gothenburg up
The Lady Plainsmen will play host to Kimball Friday night and travel to Gothenburg Saturday night.
Cross said Kimball has a couple players they have to stop offensively.
Kimball is 1-1 with a 54-25 loss to Dundy County Stratton and a 60-5 win over Potter-Dix.
Game time Friday begins with jayvee action at 4 p.m.
Gothenburg will be tall and quick and will be a Hershey-like team.
Cross said they lost quite a few players to graduation but expects another tough ball game.
They are 2-0 with a 53-51 overtime win over Lexington and a 37-25 win over Hershey.
Jayvee action at Gothenburg tips off at 1 p.m. MT.