GIRLS BASKETBALL: Holly puts the clamps down on Brando
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
HOLLY — Kaitlyn Smith, Paige Reid and Jenna Pepper made sure that nothing would go wrong in their house Friday night.
Every time Ortonville Brandon made a run in the first half, the Holly trio responded with clutch play. The Bronchos ended up posting a convincing 51-33 Flint Metro League triumph over the visiting Blackhawks.
Holly forced 24 turnovers, consistently getting into the passing lanes while frustrating the Blackhawks (6-4, 3-3).
Smith, who recently became the school’s career scoring leader, finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, six steals and five assists to lead Holly (7-4, 5-1). Reid added 12 points and five rebounds, while Pepper scooped up the dirty work detail by contributing two points, seven rebounds and five assists for Holly and was a constant pest on the defensive end.
Together, the smaller Bronchos out-rebounded Brandon by a 32-25 margin and never allowed the Blackhawks into much of an offensive flow throughout the contest.
“We understand that it starts with our defense,” said Smith. “Our coach tells us that good things will happen if we play good defense.”
“That’s what we work on during practice,” added Pepper. “You have to play good defense I don’t mind it at all.”
Holly held Brandon’s leading scorer on the season, Chloe Bennett, to just one point. Elayna Saint Amour finished with seven points and five rebounds, while Brooke Becker added five points, five rebounds and three steals. Jordan Brady chipped in with six points and four rebounds for the Blackhawks.
Brandon coach Jason Sheldon didn’t mince words with his team’s assessment Friday night.
“This was our worst game of the season — no doubt,” he frowned. “We turned the ball over, they out-hustled us and we didn’t play well whatsoever. (The) next time we play them it will be different. We can play so much better than that.”
Brandon finished only 30.1 percent from the floor (13-for-43) and converted only 16.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-for-12).
Holly led 13-4 after the first quarter and the Bronchos never trailed.
Brandon did open the second period with a 5-0 spurt to close to within 13-11. Holly responded with a 12-1 run to close the quarter for a 25-12 halftime lead and never looked back.
By the end of the third stanza, Holly led comfortably, 36-23.
“I think the girls understand their roles,” said Holly coach David Hall. “Kaitlyn and Paige are our leaders on the offensive end, and players like Jenna do a lot of the little things. She’s kind of our glue. But we had so many players that stepped up. Everyone was picking it up on defense and we caused problems for them. Brandon has some nice players. We knew they had size and that Bennett and Becker could really score. I thought we did a nice job shadowing them all over the court and not giving them time to run their offense.”
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