Scott is aware of their struggles on the offensive end at times.
Sometimes their best offense is their defense.
After a slow start, the Eagles second half defense yielded 16 points as they turned the game upside down in a 59-46 victory over Bracken County in the girls 10th Region Tournament Quarterfinals at the Mason County Fieldhouse.
Scott’s depth and full court pressure ended up wearing Bracken down.
Scott held the Lady Bears to five second half field goals, forcing nine turnovers and turning it into 12 points the other way. The defense led to offense and transition layups.
“Bench stepped up huge. We just told them when they got in to make something happen. Teams are going to keep playing zone against us and if we’re not shooting we have to make something happen to get them out of it. If we play like we did on the defensive end at times tonight, we’re pretty good on the offensive end,” Eagles coach Eric Pouncy said.
Despite Scott being the team with 10 seniors, it was a younger Bracken County team that jumped out to a quick start.
The Lady Bears (19-14) hit five first half 3-pointers on their way to a 23-11 lead, including Ella Johnson’s banked 35-footer to end the first quarter.
Scott (15-15) clamped down from there.
The momentum started to swing a few minutes before the half, Scott ending on an 8-2 run to trail 30-27 at the break.
“That was the most important three minutes of the game,” Pouncy said. “There was a stoppage of play before that run and we kind of just huddled and told ourselves it’s now or never, stay together. We took that same mindset into halftime.”
Ava Coleman’s layup gave Scott a 33-32 lead a little over two minutes into the third for their first lead of the game. After Ella Johnson’s layup off a steal for Bracken, Scott answered with an 8-0 run, eventually taking a 40-36 lead into the fourth.
The defense continued to stifle Bracken, the lead stretching to 10 with three minutes to go. Bracken was unable to get much closer, misfiring on all six second half 3-point attempts.
“We really picked up our defense and it created our offense,” Coleman said. “We let them get a couple of offensive rebounds in the first half, but really wanted to work on that out of half and pressure them.”
Bracken led by Johnson with 17 points and seven rebounds and followed by Nicole Archibald with 14 points.
Scott’s depth flexed with nine in the scoring column, Autumn Ponder and Kayla Overman leading the way with 11 points apiece. Ponder’s three first half 3-pointers helped the Eagles break out of offensive droughts, the last one igniting the Eagles 8-2 run before the break.
“Our shooting has been bad lately, but we just can’t get down on ourselves. If we stick with it and stick with it things will fall. That’s what I did tonight,” Ponder said.
Scott heads to Friday’s region semifinals, facing state ranked George Rogers Clark in a 7:45 p.m. tip. The two did not face one another in the regular season, GRC an overwhelming consensus pick to come out of the 10th Region for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Cardinals defeated Nicholas County in Tuesday’s first quarterfinal, 80-47.
Additionally for Scott, Presley Grant added nine points, Amberly Turner providing a big boost off the bench with eight points, Scott’s trio of Peterson’s, Kaia, Kayla and Kortney combined for 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
SCOTT — 9-18-13-19 — 59
BRACKEN — 19-11-6-10 — 46
Scott (59) – Ponder 11, Overman 11, Grant 9, Turner 8, Kaia Peterson 7, Kayla Peterson 4, Wilson 3, Coleman 2, Kortney Peterson 2, Sanders 2
Bracken (46) – Johnson 17, Archibald 14, Riley 6, Sharp 4, Bauer 3, Brooks 2