Bluegirls Topped Ladies
At Own Game
by Don Hill
(Reprinted McLeansboro Times-Leader March 5, 1987)
It was just a matter of getting beat at their own game Friday night at Champaign as the Lady Foxes ran into a squad that used aggression as a weapon on defense and outdueled the Lady Foxes.
Carthage Hancock Central used a tenacious sagging man-to-man defense against the Lady Foxes and took them out of their offense in the process as the Lady Foxes were denied a shot at the state title with a 47-39 loss to the Bluegirls.
It was one of those games where each time the Lady Foxes need that big play to get over the hump and take the pressure from their shoulders, it never came.
"At both ends of the floor, we saw a good defensive game," Grubb said. "The big girl (Diane Ellefritz) got a couple of baskets early, but I think we did a good job shutting her down." Tina Thomas again drew the tough assignment on Ellefritz as usual and did the job for much of the contest.
Ellefritz was 10-11 from the floor against Greenville in the opening round game and was seven of 12 against the Lady Foxes. While the Lady Foxes' defense was trying to get the job done, the defense for Carthage was also accomplishing its assigned task.
"I was really, really impressed (with their matchup zone defense)," Grubb continued. "We saw it against Fairfield. We beat Fairfield, but had some problems with that zone."
"The game tonight may have seemed sloppy at times," Grubb added. "The sloppiness was due to the defensive pressure. The fatigue factor didn't seem to bother them (Carthage) tonight."
The Lady Foxes not only had to compete with the tough sagging man-to-man, but they were forced to work for everything as Carthage stayed in a trapping full-court press throughout the contest.
They did so while using only five players in the contest. But while the Bluegirls were throwing everything they had at the Foxes, the girls from Hamilton County stayed right in the contest and managed to take the lead midway through the third period.
"I thought our kids did a good job of staying with them," Grubb said. "They didn't tire either. They seemed to get frustrated at times because of their defense. We ran different offenses, but their defense adjusted well to everything we did. I'm surprised we outrebounded them as well as we did."
The Lady Foxes used a 24-13 rebounding edge to stay in the contest. The Lady Foxes took 11 more shots from the field than Carthage, but both squads ended the game with 17 field goals.
The difference came at the charity stripe where the Bluegirls canned 13 free throws while the Lady Foxes got only five of seven. The penetrating offense with Lori Kirsch which was successful against North, failed to be a factor in this one.
"Carthage always had defense help which made it hard to penetrate," Grubb said. "We did it about three times all night. When you put the ball on the floor and try to split the seam, they always had someone there to stop you."
After Kirsch gave the Lady Foxes the lead midway through the second period with a 16-foot jumper, the Lady Foxes never led again in the first half.
Carthage used some tremendous shooting to earn the lead as they picked the Lady Foxes apart by hitting 11-17 in the half for 65 percent.
The girls in green refused to buckle and tied the score with the first two buckets of the third period. Thomas got loose inside for a quick one and Denise Bowers used another offensive board to knot the score at 24.
But the Lady Foxes were unable to take the lead until the 1:17 mark of the third period as Bowman got free for one of her few baseline attempts and gave the Foxes a 28-27 lead. It was the high-water mark for the girls.
Holly Sloan got loose inside and was fouled one minute later and hit one of two to knot the score at 29-29. Carthage reeled off the next five points and never failed after that.
The Lady Foxes used a trapping defense to get back in the game, but only managed to send the Bluegirls to the line where they salted the game away.
Coach Richard Biery of Carthage thought the contest was the kind the state champs are made of.
"There was several times that the ball just came loose and ended up in their hands," Grubb concluded. "I thought we could beat them."
Reprinted by permission from McLeansboro Times-Leader - June 17, 1999 by Ryan Nelson
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