The Class B No. 8 Blair Bears executed Tuesday's game plan.
They defended ball screens correctly, guarded against slips to the basket and played strong help-side defense. The girls basketball team won decisively, too, 37-15 against Class C1 No. 4 Wahoo.
“I think that was the biggest thing,” BHS coach Matt Aschoff explained. “Girls, all five who were playing, were always understanding the scouting report.”
The visiting Warriors (9-2 overall) made just two buckets through three periods and five overall, dropping just their second game of the season.
Blair, meanwhile, improved to 10-2 with an Eastern Midlands Conference home game against Norris next. It tips today at 5:30 p.m.
“This group allows us to coach them hard without letting it affect their play,” Aschoff said. “That's huge.”
The coach noted Wahoo's uncharacteristic poor shooting Tuesday, but also credited the Bears' efforts to contend shots all over the court.
“I thought our defense was really locked in,” he noted.
BHS led just 6-5 after one period, but won the second 12-0. Kaitlyn Johnson, Joslyn Policky and Allison Hernandez hit 3-pointers as the home squad took a 13-point advantage into halftime.
After the long scoring drought, though, the Warriors scored the first bucket of the second half. Aschoff said his Bears played two-straight “bad” possessions, but shook it off without his intervention.
Sullivan, who matched Wahoo's point total with a game-high 15, answered the opposition's bucket with a 7-0 personal scoring streak, which pushed her team's lead to 28-7. Marin Sather and Leah Chance added a 2- and 3-point buckets, respectively, as BHS' lead hit its apex — 31-7 — just before the end of the third quarter.
The Warriors scored eight points during the fourth period, but the top-10 matchup's result was never in doubt as the Bears' Claire Anderson, Kate Wulf, Quinn Avila, Norah Cloudt and Alyssa Schumacher subbed into the game for the first time in the closing minutes. They left the floor with a 22-point victory.
Aschoff credited Policky and 5-foot-11 sophomore Hayden Frink-Mathis for standout performances against the fourth-ranked squad in C1.
“(Joslyn) and Hayden, I thought, did a phenomenal job just being engaged and talking,” Aschoff said. “All the girls did.”
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
No. 8 Blair 37, No. 4 Wahoo 15
WHS (9-2) 5 0 2 8 — 15
BHS (10-2) 6 12 13 6 — 37
Scoring: BHS — Addie Sullivan 15, Joslyn Policky 8, Kaitlyn Johnson 5, Leah Chance 3, Allison Hernandez 3, Marin Sather 2, Alyssa Schumacher 1.
WHS — Autumn Iversen 6, Ava Lausterer 4, Ella Lacey 3, Sammy Leu 2.
