“At the beginning of the season, we were not clicking as well,” said senior forward Erica Thompson, who boosted the Hornets’ cause with 8 points and 10 rebounds. “But after a lot of bonding and lots of hard practices and lots of sprints together, we’re finally a really good, strong-bonded team.
GIRLS BASKETBALL COVERAGE
“We’re very well-rounded and strong-hearted people, so when we’re out here on the floor, we leave it on the floor. We play together as a team, and even off the floor, we’re still together. We’re never apart.”
Fourth-seeded Monroe (16-6) was clearly the more talented team in its matchup against the No. 12 Falcons (8-15). In that respect, the outcome was predictable.
Clinton-Massie led 2-0 and 5-2 early, but the Hornets held a 20-11 advantage at the first stop and a 34-16 edge at halftime.
“We got beat by a better team, plain and simple,” Falcons coach Tim McGraw said. “Turnovers killed us, but we were mismatched at every position. We knew we had to play zone, and they hit a lot of their shots to start. We tried to match up with man in the third quarter, and they just threw it inside.
“I felt like for 32 minutes my kids played extremely hard, and they have all year long. That’s all you can ask.”
Monroe’s pressure defense paved the way for 20 Clinton-Massie turnovers. Hannah Doss tried to keep the Falcons in the game by scoring 8 of her 10 points in the first nine minutes.
Jahsalyn Robinson scored 13 points, Olivia Wells-Daniels had 12 and Kylee Slone chipped in 7 for the Hornets, who will be back at Lebanon on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal against either No. 6 Fenwick or No. 7 Oakwood.
“The girls had a great week of practice and they’ve been playing well, but you’ve got to bring it every time,” Monroe coach Chad Allen said. “Our defense is solid and should keep us in games. If we’re not fouling, teams tend to have a struggle scoring against us.”
The Hornets brought the defensive heat Thursday, and that sparked everything else.
“Everything came together really nicely,” Thompson said. “Our defense was A-1. We had lots of steals from the back. I expect us to play this well the entire tournament.”
“They had a couple nice players, but if we could get the ball out of their hands, we thought we could take care of business because we were a little more athletic, taller, faster and stronger,” Allen said. “Our girls are starting to play pretty well with their pressure. (The Falcons) were definitely flustered in the first half. We’re trying to rotate nine girls in and keep fresh, so we were able to keep that pressure up.”
Clinton-Massie increased its win total this year after going 6-17 in 2016-17. The Hornets were 20-5 last season.
Clinton-Massie 11-5-8-7—31
Monroe 20-14-10-9—53
CLINTON-MASSIE (8-15): Johanna Theetge 4 0 8, Faith Cottrell 1 0 2, Emily Ireland 1 0 2, Kenzie Avery 2 2 6, Hannah Doss 4 0 10, Patience Chowning 1 0 2, Miranda Crawford 0 1 1. Totals: 13-3-31
MONROE (16-6): Kylee Slone 3 0 7, Sophie Sloneker 2 0 5, Erica Thompson 4 0 8, Jahsalyn Robinson 5 1 13, Olivia Wells-Daniels 5 2 12, Samantha Schwab 2 0 4, Alyssa Beckett 2 0 4. Totals: 23-3-53
3-pointers: C 2 (Doss 2), M 4 (Robinson 2, Sloneker, Slone)
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