FREDERICKTOWN – The Fredericktown girls basketball team sure has a weapon in the middle of its zone.
Audrey Bouton wreaked havoc all night long, leading the Freddies to a 48-35 win over Highland in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Fredericktown.
Her goal is simple: Just get in the way.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Bouton said with a smile.
Against Highland, she did it so well in so many ways. Bouton went for a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds; and also garnered two assists, two blocks and two steals for Fredericktown. Add to that another handful of deflections.
Bouton has battled injuries to her back and leg in her first two seasons. Another one might have ended her career.
“Having the injuries just shows that it can get taken away so fast,” she said. “So if I don’t play now, then I probably won’t play again. If I just leave it all out there, I can’t be mad at myself. If there’s a loose ball, you go after it. You gotta play defense, you play hard (and) you don’t give in on it.”
The win over the Fighting Scots gave the Freddies one more win than they had last season, and defense has been a big key to that success.
“That defense with Audrey in the middle, blocking shots and creating havoc, was pretty effective,” Fredericktown coach Tim Maceyko said. “What I’ve been stressing to the kids is that this year is all about the defense. The first two years … we were bad at defense. So we committed to it and that 3-2 is something that they’ve taken to, and we’re trying to get better and better at it.”
Bouton was averaging 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game heading into the Highland match. She posted her first double-double against Elgin earlier this season.
“It’s not her getting steals, but being big and making them throw those high passes,” Maceyko said. “The more she plays, the more she’s figuring out after being injured the first two years. I have high hopes for that kid to just keep getting better and better.”
The Freddies (10-4, 6-3) bridged halftime with a 17-2 run to take control. Gabby Daniels keyed the run in the third quarter with six points and three boards. She also tallied a double-double — her fifth of the season — with 10 points and 10 boards along with a couple of steals.
Fredericktown opened the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run to put the game out of reach after the Scots had whittled their deficit down to five to close the third.
Grace Sipes finished with a game-best 12 points and added two rebounds and a pair of steals.
Celeste Swihart played stout defense for the Freddies as well with seven steals. Also solid were Taylor Overholt with six rebounds, three assists and three steals; and Jacklyn Nussbaum with four rebounds, three helpers and a couple of steals.
Kennedy Altizer buried three 3-pointers and led the Scots (5-9, 3-7) with nine points and three assists; and Emma West had eight points, five rebounds and two steals.
“Our varsity experience is young compared to what it was last year,” Highland coach Whitney Levering-Smith said. “So these girls are learning on the go. They are being thrown into these situations that they’ve never been in before. Some things we’ve improved on. I thought our defense and rotation was good (against Fredericktown); we just didn’t rebound the ball.”
The Freddies won the rebounding battle 41-23, with 21 of their rebounds coming on the offensive end.
