By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural girls basketball didn’t have it easy against Lawrence Tuesday night at Rural, but the Junior Blues picked up their seventh victory of the season, 45-40.
Freshman Brynn Anderson led Washburn Rural with 20 points in Tuesday's 45-40 home win over Lawrence. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
In the first half, it was a struggle for both teams to find a rhythm of any kind.
“I think we were a little unsure of what we were supposed to be doing on offense, but I do think our defense was pretty decent,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “That’s not the same Lawrence team that we’ve seen for several games. They were really aggressive, I thought they were solid. They had a great gameplan against us.
"We just weren't in sync with each other. We got out of it and hit some shots that we normally make but some didn’t fall early on.”
Both teams had trouble breaking the zone defense and they were sloppy with their possessions, turning it over several times and could not get many shots to fall, resulting in a low scoring first half.
Rural also had a problem with 6-foot-1 Lawrence junior Cami Nauholz in the paint, clogging the paint, blocking shots and making her presence felt on the other end to keep the Lions in the hunt, finishing with a team-high 19 points.
The first quarter ended with Rural up 6-5 as the Junior Blues hit a couple of shots to get things going. They led 10-5, their biggest lead of the game until Lawrence got it to within one.
Freshman Kamryn Smith drilled one from distance for Rural, making it 13-9 but then the Lions would tie it up at 13 late in the half thanks to Nauholz. After Rural freshman Brynn Anderson hit a three, Lawrence got one on the next possession, but the Junior Blues went into the break up three, 19-16.
After trading 3-point buckets to begin the third quarter, Rural senior Ella Hirschi, who finished with 12 points, drove to the paint and nailed a floater, putting Rural up 24-19, tying their biggest lead of the game.
Lawrence then went on a 9-0 run, capped by a Macyn Ramsey triple, and the Lions went up 28-24 and led 28-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, a couple of threes from senior Josie Carlgen and Hirschi, it was 32-32 all. Anderson, who finished with a game-high 20 points knocked down a deep three pushing the lead to five again, 38-33.
“Not really thrilled the way she got in foul trouble the way she did, but she’s still a freshman and still learning and nobody will take it to heart more than her,'' Bordewick said. "She’s a kid who is willing to learn and works hard to get there, but Kamryn Smith and Allie Hinck (who are also freshman) came in and gave us some great minutes.''
“We can’t score without getting stops on defense, so I feel like our team did a good job of getting stops and I was able to put some shots in and Josie hit some big shots and the other girls are working hard. Hallie (Walker) had 11 rebounds. It was a team effort and our defense kept us in the game,” Anderson said.
Ella Hirschi scored 12 points, including two game-clenching free throws, in Tuesday's 45-40 Washburn Rural win over Lawrence. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Lions brought it to within one again, 40-39 but Anderson converted an and-one opportunity with 30 seconds left and then Hirschi hit two free throws to put the icing on the cake.
“We can learn anything from a win or loss and that’s what we talked about in the locker room,'' Bordewick said. "We learned a little bit about ourselves in how we stepped up and made some clutch free throws, clutch threes in the fourth quarter. We had a couple of runners from Josie and Ella that were huge, Hallie is working her butt off on the boards on both sides and she’s our workhorse.''
“I think it's great seeing everybody develop and getting better every day,” Anderson said. “The freshmen stepping up, we’re going to do big things with four years still left and we’ll see as the time goes on, but our seniors are doing a good job of leading us and our upperclassmen are doing a good job of keeping us going and keeping us engaged and keeping us mentally in the game and I think that’s the hardest thing about coming up at the varsity level.”
WASHBURN RURAL 45, LAWRENCE 40
Lawrence 5 11 12 12 – 40
Washburn Rural 6 13 7 19 – 45
Lawrence (5-5) – Juelsgaard 1 0-0 2, Doleman 2 2-4 7, Barber 1 0-0 2, Simmons 1 0-0 2, Nauholz 7 5-6 19, Ramsey 2 2-2 8.
Washburn Rural (7-2) – Smith 1 0-0 3, Rutherford 0 2-2 2, Hirschi 4 2-4 12, Walker 0 1-2 1, Anderson 4 10-11 20, Carlgren 3 0-0 7.
3-point goals – Lawrence 4 (Ramsey 3, Doleman), Washburn Rural 6 (Smith, Carlgren, Hirschi 2, Anderson 2). Total fouls – Lawrence 16, Washburn Rural 14. Fouled out – none. Technical foul -- none.
