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Rough area opener for Plainview
By Andrew Smith
The Weekly Post
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Published December 11, 2008
RAINSVILLE— If there’s one thing both Plainview varsity basketball teams held in common Friday night, it was a rough night shooting.
Both the boys and girls squads fell to DAR during their area openers at the DeKalb County Schools Coliseum, largely because they had trouble scoring.
The Class 4A, No. 7 Lady Bears, who forced 13 more turnovers than No. 5 DAR, had a cold night from the floor for the second straight time. They scored only 16 points in the first half, falling behind 27-16. They made a gritty run in the second half but the deficit—and the shooting woes—proved to be too much to overcome.
“We’ve struggled with our shooting,” Plainview head girls coach Heather Powell said. “I think our defense has been pretty good both nights (including the Ider game last Tuesday). Our girls played with a lot of hustle tonight. We missed 12 foul shots and didn’t shoot well at all from the field.”
Meanwhile, the boys had shooting troubles of their own, missing 10 layups in the first half on their way to a 70-55 defeat. However, that was just one of the things bothering Bears head boys coach Jason Bell following the game.
“I think we were not ready to play and DAR was,” he said. “That’s what it boils down to. Coach Manning had his guys ready to play, and you could tell it.”
Here’s a look at each of Plainview’s varsity games Friday night.
DAR 54, Plainview 46 (G)
Despite winning the turnover battle 29-16, the Lady Bears fell to the Lady Patriots during their Class 4A, Area 14 opener. Plainview’s press was effective against DAR, but they were never able to cash in on opportunities on the offensive end of the floor. The Lady Bears (5-2, 0-1 in the area) scored over half their points from behind the arc, hitting eight 3-pointers. However, they finished with only seven 2-point field goals and were only 8-of-20 from the floor.
Despite the offensive woes, Plainview had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Entering the final stanza down 35-26, Whitney Hodges scored the quarter’s first five points to pull her team within four, 35-31. DAR widened the margin to 39-32 when Brittney Harper nailed a trey and Anna Graham added a bucket to make it 40-37 with 4:15 remaining.
“We worked hard and chipped away,” said Powell. “We got it down to three points and had the ball. We just missed too many shots.”
DAR answered Plainview’s challenge by going on a crucial 5-0 run that ensured the Lady Bears wouldn’t get any closer than six points the rest of the way.
Hodges led Plainview with 19 points. She also had four rebounds and four steals. Jade Crowell finished with eight points and eight boards while Graham had seven points. Harper netted six points. Jessica Bowman contributed four boards and four steals, and Anna Busby had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
DAR 70, Plainview 55 (B)
Following a commanding victory over Ider on the same floor last Tuesday night, the Bears weren’t able to follow with a win during their area opener. While poor shooting by Plainview (2-1, 0-1) played a factor in the defeat, DAR was able to establish a physical tone throughout the night. The Patriots outrebounded the Bears 37-24. They shot twice as many free throws in the fourth quarter (26) as Plainview did the entire night (12).
“They got loose balls,” Bell said. “They outrebounded us. They wanted the basketball game more than we did.”
DAR held the lead for nearly the entire game. They led 31-22 at the half. Both squads traded a pair of baskets each to begin the third quarter when the Bears went on a 7-0 run to cut the margin to 35-33 around midway through the quarter. Points by Dana Wright and Gabe Graham fueled the run.
However, the Patriots followed with a 10-2 run to end the quarter, capped by a half-court heave at the buzzer that gave DAR a 45-35 advantage entering the fourth quarter. DAR knocked down 17 of their 26 foul shots in the final period to keep their lead hovering around 10-15 points the rest of the night.
Wright scored 15 points to pace the Bears. Jacob Malone added 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocks while Briar Buchanan finished with nine points and five boards. Graham contributed seven points. Colby Dixon dished out five assists, Trey Haymon had four assists and Blake Wigley came away with four steals.
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