Bishop Brossart needed some shots to go down in order to implement their press.
Trailing 17-16 a little over a minute into the third quarter, they finally did.
With that, they were able to implement their full court pressure and run away from Montgomery County in Tuesday’s 10th Region girls basketball quarterfinal at Campbell County Middle School, 45-23.
The Lady ‘Stangs held Montgomery to six points over the last 14:55 of the game, going on a 29-6 run.
“We thought the press would bother them,” Lady ‘Stangs coach Steve Brown said. “Problem was we scored 16 points in the first half meaning you could only press about eight times. We needed to get the ball going in the basket with a little bit more regularity to get going.”
Kylie Smith got them going as she finished with 21 points, Hadley Eviston providing the post presence, adding 10. It took them a while to crack the Indians zone.
Brossart led 10-7 after one and 16-14 at the half, an over five-minute drought in the second keeping it a one-possession game. After Addison Terry’s triple to make it 17-16 Montgomery with 6:55 in the third, Brossart closed on a 10-0 run to take a 26-17 lead into the fourth. They then used a 15-0 run in the fourth to put the game away for good.
“The press kind of wore on them a bit,” Brown said. “Their youth out front, we thought we could affect them a little bit.”
Terry’s triple would be their only lead of the game as they closed out their season with a 22-11 record. Terry led the Tribe with 10 points, no one else had more than four.
Smith got going early with eight of Brossart’s first 14 points while Eviston mixed in four points. The freshman added 10 in the fourth, six of those coming in a matter of seconds apart as she converted back-to-back three-point plays. Eviston added four in the put away 15-0 run.
“Coach reminded us that we can’t just sit. We have to be active,” Smith said. “He came up to me separately and told me you need to be the one taking shots. Your percentage is higher than everybody. So I took that and I started taking more open shots.”
The victory gets them into Friday’s semifinals to face Bracken County, a team they’ve defeated twice already this season. The Lady ‘Stangs won the 10th Region All “A” championship against the Lady Bears on Jan. 16, 60-51, and then again on Feb. 14, 57-29.
“Third time will be totally different,” Brown said. “Troy (Archibald) has them playing really well. They’re kind of on a little magical run and have a ton of respect for Troy and those kids. It won’t be like the last time we played them.”
Imagine they’ll see a heavy dose of zone once again, much like they did on Tuesday night against the Indians.
“We just struggle against it, it’s just tough for us,” Smith said. “Just need to push the ball against them and get easy layups.”
Campbell County and George Rogers Clark will meet in the first semifinal at Campbell County Middle at 6 p.m., Brossart and Bracken to follow at 7:45 p.m. The four quarterfinal games on Monday and Tuesday didn’t provide much drama. The average margin of victory was 31.2 points.
The championship then follows on Saturday at 7 p.m.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Bishop Brossart-Montgomery County 10th Region Quarterfinals (provided by Charles Bolton)
LADY ‘STANGS 45, INDIANS 23
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — 7-7-3-6 — 23
BISHOP BROSSART — 10-6-10-19 — 45
Scoring
Montgomery (23) — Terry 10, Warner 4, Mays 3, Fouch 2, Wilson 2, Orazen 2
Brossart (45) — Smith 21, Eviston 10, Shewmaker 6, Z. Meyers 3, Wietholter 2, Kramer 2, L. Meyers 1
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Montgomery 2, Brossart 3
Free Throws: Montgomery 5/7, Brossart 8/12
Fouls: Montgomery 14, Brossart 14
Records: Montgomery County 20-13, Bishop Brossart 25-7