By Amanda Perkins
Both Gainesville and Willow Springs entered tonight’s game following lopsided victories over last week’s opponents; the Lady Bulldogs had bested Seymour by 51 points, and the Lady Bears topped Conway by 45. But tonight, Gainesville were the ones to walk away with the victory, 64-45.
Gainesville’s Annie Noah (22) and Michia Jenkins (16) combined for 38 points. Willow Springs was led by Liliya Dudko’s 7 points while five players scored 6 or more.
“We knew Willow was going to be a quality opponent,” said Gainesville coach Morris Jenkins, “but we came out and our intensity was good. Our girls are still trying to get into game shape and they did a good job pushing through being winded. We shot the ball well from the 3-point line, which is always nice, our post play was good – it was just an all-around good team effort.”
PHOTOS: WILLOW SPRINGS VS. GAINESVILLE
After scoring neck and neck in the first half of the first quarter, the Bulldogs were able to quicken the pace to take the early lead. The Lady Bears struggled to protect the ball, and the frame closed with the Bulldogs up 16-9.
In the second, Gainesville had another quick start and led by 16, but Willow closed out the half with a strong run that included two 3-pointers from Maddie Porter and one from Kayla Cox. The Lady Bulldogs led by five at the half, 30-25.
Willow Springs struggled with their weak side defense in the third as Gainesville extended their lead to 10 points by isolating their post player, Annie Noah, who had six points in the quarter. Gainesville outscored Willow Springs by nine in the fourth quarter to close out the win.
“We just weren’t aggressive enough,” said Willow Springs coach D. J. Gutscher, who also credited Gainesville’s tradition of tough, strong players. “We have a lot of areas to improve on and have the potential to do so, so this is just a good measuring stick for where we’re at. We’ll get better as the season goes on. The kids have good attitudes, and we’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
Gainesville’s Noah led all scorers with 22 points, and Jenkins added 16. Aspyn Britt had 12 points, Destiny Scott and Patience Naegle each scored 4, and Chasity Mansker and Shelby Smith, 3 each.
Liliya Dudko led scoring for the Lady Bears with 7, and Devin Perkins, Maddie Porter, Shy Figley, Sydney Miller, and Kayla Cox each had 6 points. Grace Bailey and Kianna Rothermich each put up 4 points.
The Lady Bulldogs travel to Koshkonong on Thursday, while the Lady Bears will be on the road to Norwood.
