The Warrenton girls' basketball team added a new piece to its arsenal Monday.
For the first time, the Warriors used a full-court press extensively, and it worked wonders, as the team defeated …
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The Warrenton girls' basketball team added a new piece to its arsenal Monday.
For the first time, the Warriors used a full-court press extensively, and it worked wonders, as the team defeated McCluer North 56-22 in the first round of the Warrenton Winter Shootout.
For senior guard Sophia Benke, for whom the press paid dividends as she was able to amass a bevy of steals leading to easy points, the new plan worked to perfection.
“We’ve practiced this a lot, but this is the first time we’ve used it in a game,” Benke said. “It started off rocky, but once we (got the hang of it), it worked really well. I think that our defense was so good, it got us a lot of open shots on offense.”
The win means Warrenton (5-4) next took on Liberty (5-5) in the tournament semifinals on Wednesday after press time.
As Benke said, it did take a few minutes for the Warriors to settle into the team’s change of pace.
The first two minutes didn’t feature a point by either side as Warrenton hampered North every time the Stars brought the ball up the floor, but couldn’t find the basket themselves.
A steal and subsequent lay-up by sophomore Claire Goldsmith got things rolling, and by the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led 16-4.
Warrenton coach Hannah Logan praised the team for taking to its change of pace very well.
“We were hoping we could jump out, get some early steals and cause frustration for them and get off to a good start,” Logan said. “I think we did a decent job, so this is something we can use further in the season.”
By halftime, Warrenton led 32-13 and the rout was on.
In the end, Benke led the team in scoring with 19 points while senior post Makayla Witthaus added 14 as Goldsmith and senior Savannah Miller each contributed seven.
For her part, Witthaus said that knowing the team worked well together and moved to the winner’s side of the bracket meant the world.
“It feels great being on this side of the bracket to be in our home tournament and to represent,” Witthaus said. “Tonight, we showed that we deserve to be (on this side of the bracket) and that’s what we want to do the rest of the week.”
