VERSAILLES – Going into Saturday’s game against Arcanum, the Versailles girls basketball team’s goal was to play good half-court defense and pressure the Lady Trojan guards.
The plan worked almost flawlessly for the Lady Tigers as they held the Lady Trojans to 13 points in a 62-13 Versailles victory.
“Defensively I thought we really shined, especially in the first quarter,” Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “The second quarter I thought our defense was stellar.”
Versailles shut out Arcanum in the first quarter, building a 13-0 lead. In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers limited the Lady Trojans to four points, all coming from Abbey O’Donnell.
Versailles presented a really tough challenge for Arcanum, Lady Trojan coach Rachel Fearon said.
“I just want to say that we played a really good basketball team,” she said. “And they played hard, Versailles, they got after it, and they’re a good basketball team. That’s about all I’ve got to say after that.”
Leading 37-4 at halftime, Versailles came out in the third quarter and extended its lead to 46-11.
O’Donnell added five more points for Arcanum in the third quarter to give her a team-high nine for the game. Logan Stone also contributed two points as the Lady Trojans scored seven points in the third quarter, which was their best output of any period.
In the fourth quarter, Versailles’ defense limited Arcanum to two points from Hannah Prestel as it closed out its 62-13 victory.
In addition to playing excellent defense, Stonebraker said she was happy with her team’s offensive performance against Arcanum, too.
“Overall offensively I thought that we pushed the ball up the floor well,” she said. “A couple too many turnovers, but for the most part I thought they did a nice job.”
Katie Heckman led Versailles with 17 points in the game. Also for the Lady Tigers, Emily Harman scored 10, Christa Puthoff scored nine, Rachel Kremer scored seven, Brooke Pothast scored five, Lauren Bruns scored four, Kayla McEldowney and Courtney Prenger both scored three, and Olivia Schlater and Amanda Winner both scored two.
As it has in previous games this season, Versailles continued to rotate in players to try to get different combinations of girls playing together
“We keep on switching up different combinations out there. I think they’re all just learning to play together,” Stonebraker said. “I feel like we can throw any post player in with any other post player and any of the guards with the guards.”
While Versailles had the luxury of a deep bench, Arcanum was without two starting guards who were out with concussions Saturday
“We’re without two pretty key players, and it’s hard to fill those spots,” Fearon said.
Having also recently played Miami East, Fearon said, the tough opponents Arcanum has faced will help to make her team better as the season progresses.
“I told them this is just preparing you to be a better team for the rest of the season,” she said about her message to her team.