Mount Gilead (11-11, 6-6) had an up-and-down season defending their KMAC title, and while they suffered some tight losses and setbacks due to injuries, they finished out the regular season strong with a 47-42 home win against Tree of Life Christian (13-8, 9-2).
“We fell a bit short on some of our team goals for the season, but we also understand we've been through a lot this year,” said Assistant Coach Danielle Bault. “For our girls to still finish with 11 wins, beat every team in our conference, and to still be this engaged and focused going to tournaments is huge. We are very proud of the strength and character our girls have shown this year. Consistency is what we need now. If we can stay consistent in the tournament we feel we can make a deep run again.”
The Indians jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, highlighted by fast break score by Faith White. Danielle Pohlkotte poked away the ball for a steal and heaved it downcourt to a wide open White for a layup. Greer Simpson also recorded a pair of steals in the early goings, and Mount Gilead was up 12-7 after one quarter. White had six points in the quarter, and Simpson had four points to go with her two steals.
Mount Gilead went up 20-8 with 5:45 left when Kendall Neal stole the ball and dished it off to White under the basket for a layup. It was a 26-17 lead for the Indians at halftime. Aubrey Thomas had six points and a steal in the second quarter. White led all scorers at halftime with 10 points.
In the third quarter, Pohlkotte launched a three to put the Indians up 29-17. However, Tree of Life would go on to outscore the Indians 15-13, making it a 39-32 game in favor of Mount Gilead after three.
In the fourth quarter, Tree of Life outscored the Indians 9-8, but Mount Gilead held on for the five point win.
White led the way with 14 points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal in the win.
“She really attacked the basket and was able to get a lot of points off of steals,” said Bault. “Faith is at her best in transition and when she is in attack mode. She's been playing a bit out of position this year after we lost our point guard Ava Baker and it was great to see her get back to her strengths. I hope she takes this momentum into tournaments.
Thomas scored 10 points to go with seven boards, two assists and three steals. Simpson had eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Pohlkotte had seven points, three assists, a rebound and a steal. Sophie Mosher had a solid night coming off the bench, tallying two points, three steals and an assist.
As a team, Mount Gilead shot 46% from the floor and went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. They struggled shooting the three, however, at only 14%. Their defense did well holding the Trojans to 24%. Each team had 28 rebounds and Mount Gilead led 15-6 in steals. Defensively, Tree of Life led 16-12 in steals.
Bault said the Indians used this game to work on things they need to polish up as they move into tournament play. She said Tree of Life is very similar to teams they will be facing soon, and they took the time to tinker with rotations and work on a new defensive scheme. It was also a chance to get the bench players, including those on JV, into the game for quality minutes.
“Every girl on the roster was able to get in and contribute and that was a great thing for our team,” Bault said. “That also meant that they had to handle the pressure when Tree made a late game run to close the game out. We ended the game with our JV team on the court and they did a nice job of keeping their composure. If we want to make a deep tournament run, having confident girls on the bench will be key and getting them some minutes under pressure is important.”
The win was great for momentum, as the No. 6 Indians are now ready for the playoffs with an away game against the No. 3 Madison Christian Eagles on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
