Defense and offense. Those are the two halves of the game of Basketball. Some teams win through a suffocating defense. Other teams just look to out score their opponent. The best teams do both. What a treat to have a pair of varsity games that included teams that played both ends at a high level. That's the positive spin on it, but it also means that one team in both games was blown out.
The night started like they normally do, with the girls leading off the play between Shanley & Davies. The Deacon ladies got it started with some help by the whistles. Four out of four called fouls over the first five and a half minutes of the game sent players to the line to help them jump out to a 13 - 7 lead. If not for the free throws, the scoring in the first half seemed bound to remain in the single digits for each team until Kelly Christmann hit a jumper that sparked both teams to better offense. Better to the tune of 36 total points being scored over the final eight minutes of the half.
Shanley's effective scoring continued in the second half as they jumped out to a 54-34 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The Eagles did not go quietly, as they responded with a 13 - 4 run of their own. The Deacons suffocating defense didn't let Davies get closer to 10 but instead helped their offense push the lead back up to 19 points. From their the result was academic.
The Eagles were lead on offense by 14 from Taylor Fey but she was the lone player in double digits for the visitors from the South. The home team on the other hand got 20 from Kate Busek & 13 from Reile Payne to pace the way to the victory, 75 - 54.
The encore was similarly one-sided, but to an even more extreme measure. Whether it was by the three point shot or by impressive ball movement leading to a layup, Davies played their way to a 21 - 9 lead within the first minutes of the game. 17 first half points by Matt Motschenbacher paced the way to a 48 - 30 halftime score. In a closer game, he could have sniffed 40 the way he was shooting but he finished with "only" 27 points. Maybe more impressive than that is the equal production that the rest of the Eagles provided with Ty Satter being the only player to get into double figures, with 11 points. In total, 10 players chipped into the box score for Davies. Talon Hoffer was the high scorer for the home team with 14 and Daniel Wanner added 12 but even their scoring plays came against challenge. Nothing was easy, everything was earned and Davies showed why it's a nearly unanimous #1 team in the Class A ranking. So with five minutes remaining in the game, Shanley waved the white flag and let the reserves get some court time
Two games with similar outcomes, by either school. Someone may catch Davies on an off night, but after seeing what they can do, I'd still be hard pressed to think that they wouldn't be able to keep even that game close. The same goes for the Shanley girls. With the trapping defense that they mixed in seemingly out of nowhere, they could give fits to just about any team trying to run offense or just get the ball across half court.
Players of the Game
Girls
Kate Busek
Boys
Matt Motschenbacher
Photos of the Game
Girls
Boys
For the galleries from both games, click the pics!