DANVILLE – When the Danville girls basketball team got off to a 7-0 start, it was easy to forget just how much the team was full of youth and inexperience.
The Blue Devils bounced back from a rough stretch that included a 25-point loss at Fredericktown last weekend with a 69-60 win over Northmor in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
“I think it’s still part of being a young team; we played five freshmen tonight,” Danville coach Matt Proper said. “Five freshmen of the 10 that played. So we’re still trying to figure it out. It’s a process. We’re a young team. It’s not an excuse, it’s just part of the process.”
That youth has shown itself against zone defenses this season, Proper noted.
“We’ve been struggling to score against zone,” he said. “You get stagnant and you gotta understand basketball (to be successful). There’s a lot of anticipation that’s involved with going against (zone) on the offensive end. From that point of view, we looked a lot better (against Northmor).”
But the Devils’ youth struggled against the fast tempo of the Golden Knights on the defensive end.
“Give (Northmor) credit, they hit open shots,” Proper said. “But I thought on our rotations we were leaving one open and they were finding the open (shooter). I thought they had a lot of uncontested (shots) and they hit them.”
Northmor did not wait around for Danville to set up its 1-2-2 press. Made basket or missed, the Knights moved quickly to get the ball to the offensive end.
It was a new way of playing, according to Northmor assistant coach Tony DiTullio, who served as head coach in place of Freddie Beachy because of illness.
“Coach Beachy and I discussed changing some things around,” DiTullio said. “Namely, it was to try and push the tempo some more. We’ve got good athletes. Sometimes they’re not great basketball players, but they’re good athletes.
“So we decided to take advantage of their ability and really start pushing the ball and pushing the tempo. The girls really executed well tonight.”
The Knights (3-13, 2-10) used everything from 3-pointers to mid-range jumpers to baskets in the paint and a stellar 12 of 13 effort at the foul line to keep close.
Danville took the lead for good with a 10-2 run in the second quarter and went to the locker room up 36-30.
Northmor pulled within one early in the fourth quarter before Danville rallied for 10 straight points to push the lead to 56-45 at the midway point. Northmor kept it close, but never closer than six down the stretch.
Brooklyn Hess went for 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals to lead the Devils (10-4, 6-4). The lengthy Hess is also at the top of that three-quarter-court zone.
Alenah Boeshart and Ella Proper added 19 and 18 points, respectively, to back Hess. Boeshart added five rebounds, four steals and three assists; and Proper had six boards, three assists and a pair of steals. Jaylyn Smith added five rebounds and two assists in a solid effort off the bench.
Brooke Dennison buried four 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter, en route to a team-best 16 points for Northmor. Lexi Wenger went for 15 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds; and Emilee Jordan added nine points, six rebounds, four helpers and a pair of blocks to lead the Knights.
Reagan Swihart was a force on the boards with 13 rebounds for Northmor. She also added six assists, two steals and a couple of blocks.
