At the start of the second half of the finale of the inaugural Tiger Invite vs. Dover on Saturday night at Sutton Gymnasium, Marietta ramped up its defensive pressure, and the strategy played a big part in the Tigers’ 55-36 win. brought profit.
Marietta forced eight turnovers on Dover in the third period alone and outscored the Lady Tornadoes 11-3, turning a close game into a double-digit lead.
“We’ve thrown a lot at people, so it’s very difficult to prepare for us.” said Tiger second-year head coach Ryan McClain. “They did a good job against our zone, but when we got man in the second half, the girls really answered the call.”
Early on, it looked like the undefeated Tigers would have their hands full against their former conference rival, the Tornados, as Dover led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Morgan Cullum’s two triples were key to Dover’s early success, with Eva Zobel accounting for the remaining four points.
The Tigers quickly took the lead to start the second quarter thanks to two free throws and a field goal by junior Alyssa Baker.
Back-to-back buckets from Zobel and Jose Velentz put the Tornadoes back in the lead, but that didn’t last long as Marietta took the lead again with two free goals from senior Livi Rinar and a field goal from Leija Lauer. .
Dover cut the lead back to one point on Zobel’s goal, but Tigers junior Jaycee McKnight hit a triple and a two-pointer in the space of a few minutes, and the Tigers started to extend their lead a bit.
A field goal by Lauer and a free throw by Baker extended the lead to eight points, but Dover ended the first half strong with a 3-pointer by Callum and the Tornadoes led the Tigers 25-20 at the break. rushed into.
After playing most of the first half in a half-court zone defense, the Tigers began putting full-court pressure on Dover, which sparked a 19-0 Marietta run that turned things around in a big way.
Late in the third, a 3-pointer by senior Maddie Hogue started the Tigers’ onslaught, and bucket shots by Lauer and senior Kensley Urban extended the lead to 13 points after three quarters of play. Ta.
Not only did the defense play, the Tigers came alive from beyond the arc, with triples from McKnight, Baker and senior Saylor Wirf in the first two minutes, increasing the Tigers’ lead to 46-23.
McClain got contributions from all 10 girls as all 10 had meaningful time in the game and all 10 scored at least one point.
“We’re the type of team where the leading scorer can change every night.” McClain said. “We have enough depth to wear teams down, and everyone on the team is a capable scorer.”
Dover chipped away at the Tiger lead in the final quarter, but never got closer to 17 points the rest of the way.
Lauer led the Tigers with 15 points, Baker added 11 points and McKnight added nine points.
Senior Isiah Burke scored seven points and tied for the team lead with five rebounds.
Tornaodes, who fell to even with 2 wins and 2 losses on the season, was led by Zobel with 17 points and Callum with 15 points.
McClain was very pleased with the performance of the players who didn’t start, including Urban and Hogue, who praised the defensive effort, and after Callum made a 3, the two combined to make 3-pointers in the second half. was kept to one. His first two quarters.
“Kensley (Urban) hasn’t played in two years, but he’s probably one of the best athletes in the school.” McClain said. “We put her in a close fight and said sink or swim, and she looked like Michael Phelps.”
With the win, the Tigers’ record improved to 7-0, and a visit to Logan was next on Thursday night’s agenda.