By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Urbana, Mo. — With leading scorer Hayley Frank spending most of the first half on the bench, Strafford showed off its depth Friday night in Urbana in a game that had the feel of an unofficial Mid-Lakes title game against Skyline.
Zoey Mullings scored eight of Strafford’s 13 first-quarter points after Frank exited with two fouls, giving the Indians a one-point lead after the first in a game they’d go on to win, 50-34, to push their record to 13-0.
After Friday’s performance, Mullings is getting a reputation for stepping up in big games—the junior led Strafford with 13 points in last year’s Class 3 title win against Saxony Lutheran.
“It was really important,” Mullings said of her first-quarter performance. “[Hayley is] usually our lead scorer so I knew I had to step up and get offensive boards, defensive boards, go up strong and play good defense.”
CLICK FOR STRAFFORD VS. SKYLINE PHOTOS
Even with Mullings’ effort, Skyline (11-2) led 14-13 mid-way into the second quarter, but a 9-2 Strafford run sparked by Frank’s return to the floor put the Indians up 22-16 at the half.
“When Hayley got her second foul there early in the first quarter that was a big concern when she sat,” Strafford head coach Steve Frank said. “It really made a big difference for us in a low-scoring grindout game and that’s kind of what [Skyline] wanted. But we were able to get her back in there in the second half and that really kind of picked things up.”
Frank scored seven of her game-high 18 points in the third quarter but, until the closing seconds, Skyline was still within single-digits. Enter Abby Oliver.
With a 35-28 lead, Oliver connected on a three-pointer right in front of her bench at the buzzer. With her teammates all but mobbing Strafford’s senior point guard, an emotionless Oliver walked calmly to the bench.
“I like to stay focused,” Oliver said. “But it felt good.”
“I just didn’t feel it was over. Knowing Skyline, they can make quick runs and get up on you a bit. I’m glad we played good defense and kept them down.”
Oliver finished with 13 points and a game-high three threes and, along with Mullings, was key in Strafford’s first-half efforts.
“In the second quarter when Frank was on the bench, Abby Oliver did a good job of keeping the basketball in her hands,” Skyline head coach Kevin Cheek said. “I knew then we should be making a little bit of a push, and we weren’t.”
Skyline forced Strafford into a number of first-half turnovers in the paint, something Frank attributed in part to the magnitude of the game and in part to the challenge that comes with facing Skyline and Cheek.
“Cheek is probably one of the best coaches in the state,” Frank said. “He does a great job and they have a program that’s just tremendous. Anytime you can come to skyline and get a win you’re feeling pretty good about what you do.”
Kaylee DaMitz led Skyline with 14 points but no other Tiger reached double-digits in what was Skyline’s lowest scoring output of the season by 17 points. The previous low came in a 51-41 win over Fair Grove.
“[McKinsey] Mountain and DeMitz are just a handful,” Frank said. “We did a really good job of helping on the dribble-drive and we just tried to keep Mountain under control inside and not let her turn to her left side and that kind of helped. Once we kept those two in check we really kind of held their scoring down.”
On the other end, Strafford’s 50 points tied a season-low previously set in a 50-38 win over Rogersville.
“They do such a good job of not being out of position,” Cheek said. “There’s hardly ever a kid out of position, whether they’re getting screened or they’re help-siding. That really saved them defensively. For us, I thought if you can hold Strafford to 50, that’s a heck of a night defensively.
“For us, offensively, we turned the basketball over in a few critical spots. I thought there were times we needed to flip it and instead of flipping it we would force the issue, either on a drive or post entry, and that caused us some problems.”
Skyline dropped to No. 2 in Class 2 in the state coaches rankings this week after a loss to Class 5 Lebanon in the Pink & White Tournament. The Tigers return to action Saturday as hosts of their own tournament.
Class 3 No. 1 Strafford looks to stay perfect Monday when it hosts Conway (2-7).
“We’re still undefeated, so we’ve got to just take it one game at a time and stay focused,” Oliver said.
FINAL: Strafford 50, Skyline 34
Strafford 13 9 16 12 – 50
Skyline 12 4 12 6 – 34
Strafford- Hayley Frank 18, Abby Oliver 13, Zoey Mullings 12, Kayley Frank 4, Kyndall Compton 3
Skyline- Kaylee DaMitz 14, Savannah Owen 9, McKinsey Mountain 6, Chloe Cole 3, Lauren Wouters 2
