The New Bloomfield girls have been starting fast as of late. This was even more true Monday night against Smithton.
The Lady Wildcats defeated the Lady Tigers in the first round of the Tipton Tournament 63-20, as New Bloomfield equaled Smithton's game total with a 20-point first quarter. Junior Brooklynn Smith led the team with her 15 points off the bench while her fellow reserve players, sophomore Ashlyn Peters and senior Lelah Shikles, each added nine points.
Head coach Curt Riley said his team outscored Smithton 20-8 in the first quarter because of how well the girls are playing at the defensive end right now. The Lady Tigers (0-3) didn't reach double figures in any quarter against New Bloomfield (2-1) as they scored three, four and five during the final three periods.
"We were really up in passing lanes. I think we did a really nice job of pressuring the ball," Riley said. "When they made a pass to the wing, we were doing a great job of following the ball and setting some traps. It was just a really good performance."
Riley said much of the Lady Wildcats' game depends on getting as many possessions as they can get, which starts with being strong on the defensive end. He said they weren't able to start as fast in the first game against Harrisburg but have now limited their prior two opponents to single digits in the first quarter.
New Bloomfield switches its attention to Capital City at 6 p.m. today in the semifinals after the Lady Cavaliers defeated Jamestown 73-21 on Monday.
Riley said Capital City appears to have athleticism and presents a big challenge to the Lady Wildcats. He also knows Capital City (2-1) will be ready to play because of its head coach Ashley Agee, who Riley has coached against in high school when he was at Kirksville and she was an all-state player at Moberly and in college when he was at Columbia College and she was an all-conference player at McKendree.
"They're coming off a big win like that. I think they're expecting they're going to come in and get after us," Riley said. " I understand that and our kids understand that. Part of our culture is we're not going to back down from anybody.