By Moses Leos III.
Miscues, turnovers and plenty of missed shots comprised the first Hays/Lehman rivalry contest on Friday at the Lobo Den.
In the end, Hays’ interior presence allowed the Lady Rebs to defeat Lehman 44-31 in the opening 27-4A contest of the year.
Hays took the early advantage, building a 6-0 lead to start the game. It ballooned to a 10-5 lead off a layup by senior Jordyne Dugger, who finished with ten points.
Hays junior Alexis Delgado (33) attempts to pass the ball past Lehman junior Starr Rivers (22) in both team’s first district game on Friday night. Hays eventually pulled away late to claim a 44-31 win over Lehman in the first basketball rivalry game of the season. (Photo by Lincoln Ramirez) |
Lehman climbed right back, going on a 5-0 run to tie it at 10-10 after a quarter.
Lady Lobo head coach Jamie Coy knew her team was “outsized in the paint.” She countered Hays’ advantage by running a zone defense, which was effective.
Hays’ interior threats, senior Jill Borreson and Dugger, were held to only 10 points in the first half of play.
“We knew they were going to play a big game. Their guards are not a factor to us,” Coy said. “Their bigs have us outsized considerably, so we made sure we covered [them] and ran zone.”
Friday’s low scoring affair continued, as both teams struggled to get their offenses going. Turnovers were ever present in the second quarter, as were several missed scoring chances.
Still, the Lady Lobos held close. They eventually took their only lead off a running jump shot from Lauren Fowler, which gave them a 15-14 lead. Fowler scored 10 points in the contest.
But the Rebels emerged from a lethargic start and began working the ball to Dugger and Borreson.
Hays ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 20-15 halftime break.
Rebels head coach Danny Preuss acknowledged Lehman’s attempt to thwart Borreson and Dugger. However, he felt execution issues on both sides of the floor plagued the team in the first half. He felt the team wasn’t, “ready to play,” a theme that summarized the entire game.
That point was seconded by Borreson.
“We went in overconfident,” Dugger said. “They are a [good] team, but we didn’t come out like we needed to.”
Hays eventually took control midway through the third period, relying on Dugger and Borreson, who were often open beneath the bucket.
For the Lady Lobos, a change in defensive tactics led to the Lady Rebels taking advantage.
“We were running a 2-3 (zone) [early in the game]. We’d shift over and cover [Borreson and Dugger],” Cheyenne Morgan said. “We then switched to man, and we got jumbled on who had who.”
In addition, a cold spell from the floor felled the Lady Lobos. Lehman was unable to hit a bucket until the 6:30 mark in the fourth quarter.
Coy said the team tried to find offense outside of senior Olivia Marzullo, who led the team with 11 points. She tried to “get more kids involved,” but the Lady Lobos never could find their offensive rhythm.
In between, Hays concocted a 10-0 run to separate itself from Lehman. The Rebs stayed one step ahead of the Lobos, using Dugger, Borreson and Tara Ramsey to pull away for the win.
Lehman senior guard Lauren Fowler felt the team allowed Hays to dictate the tempo, particularly in the second half.
“I felt that we weren’t running transition as well as we could have,” she said. “We needed to push the ball more.”
Coy felt her team must take better care of the ball, along with ensuring the girls transition effectively on the floor.
Preuss stressed his squad must execute effectively to be successful; whether on defense, or finish shots on offense. Hays did so in the waning moments of the game.
“The key tonight was when we slowed down and took care of the ball, we executed. When we tried to go warp speed, we didn’t,” Preuss said. “Good thing about [tonight] was it was a (win).”
