Is there a better way to spend a winter afternoon than watching some high school basketball action? The lady’s basketball teams of John Marshall and Linsly gave us many reasons to say no.
First things first, watching basketball at the Moundsville Fieldhouse just feels right, there’s not a bad seat in the house. Put it on your need to go to list for Ohio Valley sports.
The teams of John Marshall and Linsly did the Fieldhouse right in giving the fans a good game to watch. Linsly was still without their leading scorer, Miriam Martinez for the contest. This caused the Monarchs to look at Linsly’s next best option, Haylen Cook, and defended her all over the floor.
John Marshall Coach Brock Melko leaned on freshman Masyn Inclan to pick Cook up full court to start the game. Having coached Masyn, I know why Melko turned to her, she’s a great athlete that’s always up to the task. She’s one of those kids you love to coach, does everything she’s asked to do and does it well.
The rest of the Monarchs clamped the Cadets down in half court man defense. On the offensive end the Monarchs had a difficult time combating the zone defense that the Cadets were throwing at them early. The Monarchs solved their offensive issues and led 14-5 after the first quarter.
Linsly’s offense was able hit some key shots in the second to more than double their offensive production in the first quarter, scoring 13 in the second. Their defense gave up some baskets underneath to John Marshall’s Kayli Derrow and Kaitlyn Blake. The halftime deficit was still 9 as it was after 1, 27-18 in favor of the Monarchs.
The 3rd quarter was as close as the 2nd as Linsly used the 3-point shot to keep the game close. For the game Linsly made 6 long balls, including two each from Alyana Cook and Haylen Cook. The 3rd quarter saw Blake make a couple more inside shots and grab boards on the offensive and defensive ends that led to her double day for the afternoon scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The 3rd quarter saw the Monarchs keep their lead at 9.
John Marshall clamped down on defense to hold the Cadets to only 3 points in the 4th quarter as the Monarchs held on for the victory 47-33.
Coach Melko must be happy about his team’s effort in moving to 10-3 on the season.
Already mentioned was the double double by Blake and the defensive game by Inclan.
Lilie Babiczuk continues to tear down rebounds in bunches. She ended the game with 13 boards and 5 points, along with a great defensive effort.
Rilee Storm had a complete game with 9 points (2 3 pointers), 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. She is the classic “oh no” girl for the opposing coach, when she catches it behind the 3-point line wide open the opposing coach always says “oh no.”
Last but definitely not least was the effort of Kayli Derrow who too had a great game defensively and finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds. It always seems like she is around the ball whether on the offensive or defensive side of the floor. It was great watching and catching up with the Derrow family during the second half of the game.
Linsly was led by Rosa Sohlberg’s 11, Haylen Cook’s 9, and Alyana Cook’s 6.
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