Bradleyville (18-4) used a 10-0 run to begin the festivities in its quest for revenge over Hurley (14-9) on Saturday – helping it rise to the occasion as the Lady Eagles nabbed a 65-44 victory in the championship game of the Mark Twain Conference tournament.
Falling victim to the Lady Tigers by a count of 83-73 back on Jan. 29, Bradleyville fought back by hanging its proverbial hat on something that seemed woefully absent when the two squads clashed a little more than two weeks ago – defense.
“I said [to my team] 'if we want to win this game, we have to play defense,'” Bradleyville head coach Autumn Thomas said. “Good defense is what won us the game. I'm proud of them.”
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That stout Lady Eagles defense nearly pitched a shutout through the first quarter of play – finally yielding Hurley's first points, coming via a basket by senior Katie Winfree, with 30 seconds to go in the period.
By the time the Lady Tigers were on the board, the damage was already done on the other end as Coach Thomas' team boasted a ten-point lead and didn't look back.
Talented senior Emily Todd was perhaps the most instrumental player all afternoon – working in the the low post for the Lady Eagles to deny any open opportunities for Hurley to convert from close range.
When Hurley attempted to contest her, Todd was primed and ready to collect on missed shots.
“Her rebounds are huge down there,” Thomas said of Todd. “When she can rebound it and we get it to our point guard, Kourtney [Shipley], we just get it down the floor.”
It was Shipley who managed to cash in quickly off her senior teammate's rebounds. While Shipley led all scorers with 25 points in the win, the vast majority of those points came in speedy transition from unsuccessful possessions by the Lady Tigers which resulted in easy layups.
“We love to rebound, push the ball up the floor and just get it up fast,” said Shipley. “Layups are our thing. We like to shoot.”
Down double-digits for most of the contest, Hurley was able to dwindle the Bradleyville lead down to nine with 5:47 to play, but a 16-4 run to close out the game ultimately gave the Lady Eagles their largest lead by the time the final buzzer sounded – effectively sending a clear message to their future competition this season.
“We're ready for districts and we're just ready to show people what we have,” Shipley added. “We're really excited.”
Both teams move on to out-of-conference tilts on Tuesday as Bradleyville visits Fordland, while Hurley faces Billings on the road.
Box Score
Hurley – 2 11 23 8 – 44
Bradleyville – 12 18 17 18 – 65
Hurley – Jordan Langley 13, Zava Bennett 10, Paige Simpson 6, Lexie Winfree 5, Katie Winfree 4, Samantha Hall 4, Taylor Cattanach 2
Bradleyville – Kourtney Shipley 25, Emily Todd 15, Dorian Hayes 10, Casey Ridings 5, Sophia Meltke 5, Kylie Winkles 5
