By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
When shots weren’t falling early on, the Blue Eye girls relied on their defense.
The Bulldogs trailed most of the second quarter and then led most of the second half as Blue Eye earned a hard-fought 46-40 victory over College Heights on Wednesday night in a Class 2 sectional at Carthage.
“I think just defensively we continued to grind it out,” coach Ken Elfrink said. “We relied on our defense early on. We missed a lot of easy shots but it’s just sheer determination. They got tired. Emmy Colin, she’s a great player who makes everybody better. I think she got tired and she got in foul trouble. I thought defensively we stuck true to what we do.”
The Bulldogs, 26-4 and winners of 19 straight, jumped out to a 7-1 lead but then failed to score on 13 of their next 14 possessions. Missed shots were usually the culprit.
It put them in a 16-10 hole early in the second quarter after Colin, a College Heights senior, capped a 10-0 run with a bucket at the 7:21 mark.
Blue Eye senior Kohnnar Patton finally stopped the run. Senior Madison Box later added a three-pointer and sophomore Riley Arnold’s reverse layup with 1:11 on the clock tied the game at 20 and gave the Bulldogs momentum going into the half.
Arnold’s three pointer barely a minute into the third quarter put Blue Eye ahead and the team never trailed again.
Every time College Heights pulled within a possession or tied the game, Blue Eye had an answer on the other end. The Bulldogs led by as many as six in the third quarter at 28-22.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Cougar freshman Klohe Burk’s basket early in the fourth quarter brought her team to within a point at 30-29, and a Colin free throw tied it with 6:31 left in the game, but a minute later Patton made two free throws to keep the Bulldogs ahead.
“Whenever I felt like I could stretch it out a little bit they come back with an answer,” Elfrink said.
Blue Eye led 33-32 with 4:43 left in the game, extended it to five and then led 38-37 with 2:14 remaining. The Bulldogs ahead went up by five at 42-37, but a three-point play by College Heights junior Grace Bishop made it tight again with 1:36 on the clock.
Blue Eye finally put the game away at the free throw line.
Sophomore Avery Arnold made one with 40 seconds to go, then College Heights missed a three-point attempt.
Box made a huge free throw with 17 seconds left to make it a four-point game. After another College Heights miss, Patton added two more from the charity stripe at the 6-second mark to put the game away.
Blue Eye finished 11-for-23 from the line.
“We made some big free throws and obviously you make those free throws earlier it’s a different story,” Elfrink said. “We missed a lot but when it counted we hit big free throws. Madison Box came up big, played huge. Makayla Johnson came off the bench and we trusted each other late in the game and we got her on a post feed twice and she scored two big baskets late for us. That’s what it takes. It takes everybody, the bench and the starters. We know Kohnnar is going to get a lot of attention and Riley and Avery are. It’s going to come down to somebody else stepping up. Madi Box did tonight and so did Makayla Johnson.”
“We struggled early with our offensive execution but I thought our defense was great. We executed our defensive game plan really well,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We had a couple breakdowns where we left shooters open, knocked down a couple three’s. Different in the game. We shot poorly from the free throw line. Difference in the game. If we hadn’t fouled, a three or four-point ballgame. You make a couple extra layups, knock down a few more free throws, not get lost on defense and pick up shooters, it’s a different outcome but I couldn’t be more proud of our girls. They did a great job.”
The Cougars, 26-3, finished 10-for-16 from the line.
Bishop was their leading scorer with 14 points and Colin added 13.
Patton led Blue Eye with 18 points and Box finished with nine.
“Bottom line is both teams battled, both teams were determined and it was a good sectional ballgame,” Elfrink said.
His team will now play in its second quarterfinal game in three years when it faces Mansfield at 1 p.m. Saturday in a quarterfinal game at Republic. The Bulldogs lost in the sectional round last year.
“We probably need a game like this to get us focused and ready to go,” Elfrink said.
