A respectable 10-point lead grew into a 31-point home victory Thursday as the Blair High School girls basketball team upped its defensive aggressiveness against Hastings.
The Class B No. 6 Bears (5-3 overall) ended the second period on a 10-0 scoring assault, building a 25-5 lead they fashioned into a 48-17 Eastern Midlands Conference win.
Did BHS sophomore Taytum Macholan find her team's half-court pressure effective?
“Yes, it was,” she said, nodding her head. “Very.”
As the Tigers moved the ball upcourt, the Bears attempted to funnel them to the sidelines to set up double teams.
“We're supposed to catch them right as they come off of half court so that we can stop them right in the corner,” Macholan said.
The strategy paid off with not only steals, but a pair of 10-second violation turnovers in the second quarter alone. It only worked because each Blair player played their role, Macholan added.
“Everyone has to do their job to cover the middle,” she said. “And then, once they get to the trap spot, everyone has to fill in their spots.”
The Bears' big breakout during the second period started when freshman Cadence Field, who scored a team-best 11 points against Hastings, drove to the basket for a layup at 17-5. Her team instantly jumped into its half-court press, stopping the Tigers before they even got their offensive possession started with the first aforementioned backcourt violation.
The Hastings miscue led directly into Madeline Chikos' 3-point make for BHS. Field later scored on a fastbreak assist from Kate Wulf before Wulf herself sunk another long-range shot to push the Bears' lead to 20.
It didn't stop there.
After holding the Tigers without a point during the second period, coach Matt Aschoff's Blair lineup added to its 12-0 scoring streak after halftime with 2-point buckets by both Wulf and Addie Sullivan. Claire Anderson hit a shot from beyond the arc at 31-5, too, before Hastings finally scored its first points since the first quarter with 5:37 left in the third.
Baskets by substitutes Kenzie Policky and Ally Sullivan highlighted play from there as the Bears picked up their fifth win of the season. Macholan said her team is now looking forward to the January tests ahead.
“I'm really excited to play the better teams because we've obviously shown that we can stick with them,” the sophomore said. “It's exciting to compete with those teams and, hopefully, win.”
Blair next hosts Class B No. 3 Bennington today at 5:30 p.m.
BLAIR BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Thursday
No. 6 Blair 48, Hastings 17
HHS (3-5) 5 0 7 5 — 17
BHS (5-3) 13 12 18 5 — 48
Scoring: BHS — Cadence Field 11, Kate Wulf 10, Addie Sullivan 7, Claire Anderson 7, Madeline Chikos 3, Ally Sullivan 3, Taytum Macholan 3, Beau Wendt 2, Kenzie Policky 2.
HHS — Breianna Campbell 5, Ella Tinsman 5, Lauryn Boutin 4, Hadyn Laux 3.
