December 21, 1999
Chieftains run Patriots out of contention
By Pat Magers
Sports Writer
BASCOM -- Here's a set of numbers that would seem to be mutually exclusive -- a pair of 6-0 teams; 64 turnovers.
Stranger combinations have probably occurred somewhere, but Hopewell-Loudon coach Doug Reynolds won't spend much time researching. His combination of four players with eight or more points was of far greater interest as the Chieftains bounced Patrick Henry 51-35 in a battle of unbeatens Monday night.
"I think the biggest thing was we ran the ball every time down the floor," Reynolds said after his club pushed its record to 7-0. "By the end of the third quarter, they were dead tired."
Long before that, the Patriot offense was dead, period. The visitors sacked themselves with 43 turnovers, a huge number for any team but an incredible show of ineptitude for a club which brought a 6-0 record to town.
The loss of senior standout Carrie Barnes, a three-year letterwinner sidelined Saturday with a knee injury, was a major contributor to the Patriot woes. So, too, was the Chieftain press.
"They missed her a lot; that's for sure," Reynolds said. "She's a very good player and I wanted to see how we'd match with her in there. But also think our pressure did a lot. They had a lot of turnovers and I think it's because our pressure got to them. They didn't get many good looks."
That was especially true in the second quarter, when the Chieftains took command.
Lindsay Borer's transition basket to open the quarter broke a 12-12 tie. Five seconds later, Borer scored again off a steal and less than 30 seconds after that, Danielle Reynolds knocked down a shot for an 18-12 lead.
Kara Rettig's basket slowed the charge, but Roshelle Stull, Susie Norris, Reynolds and Kara Johnson all scored to lift the Chieftains to a 26-16 halftime advantage.
The Patriots had 12 turnovers in the second period, their worst showing of the night. But not by much. Eight more miscues in the third frame and 10 in the fourth precluded any chance for a rally.
Stull and Norris hit two quick baskets to start the second half. Later three straight hoops by Borer and an inside feed from Norris to Holly Thom for two helped Hopewell-Loudon expand its margin to 38-22.
The Patriots could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
Borer led the winners with 16 points. Norris (six rebounds, four assists) added nine points and Reynolds (six rebounds, five assists) and Johnson each pitched in eight.
"Lindsay Borer scored 16 and didn't get to the line once," Doug Reynolds said. "That's surprising because I would be she's ahead of the rest of the league (in free throw attempts) by 10 or 15.
"But the big thing for us again was our bench," he said. "Holly Thom, Lindsay Snyder and Biz Hoover, they keep getting us up and going. We had to beat that half-court trap of theirs and we were able to do that by going over the top of them. We did it with whatever combination."
Meanwhile, Patrick Henry is trying to re-regroup. Not only was Barnes out of the lineup, but so, too, were senior Erin Knueven and junior Anita Meyer. Knueven, a three-year letter, and Meyer each suffered season-ending knee injuries in a preseason scrimmage.
Andrea Hieber led the Patriots with 10 points. Karyn Creager added eight and Nikki Zgela had seven.
"We knew they liked to spin dribble and (Hieber) is a player who really likes to drive the lane. We told the kids to keep in front of her and she had problems. Without her partner, she couldn't do much of anything. She really had to work those 10 points she got and that's what we wanted.":
The Chieftains, off to the best possible start on the heel of a state championship season, have one more game before the Christmas break, a Midland Athletic League test at home against Seneca East.