January 29, 2009 01:54 pm
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By Julia Cline
For The Pendleton News
YORKTOWN — Where the Hoosier Heritage Conference clash between the Yorktown Tigers (11-5 overall, 2-4 HHC) and the visiting Pendleton Heights Arabians (16-2, 6-0) on Saturday night was concerned, the first half and the second half looked like two entirely separate games.
Pendleton Heights held a slim 18-13 lead at the half.
“At halftime, I talked to the girls about two things,” said Arabians coach Shari Doud. “We had to rebound better, and we definitely did that, and we had to execute our offense more diligently in order to keep the momentum.”
The last point in the game where Yorktown was in the lead was its 13-12 advantage in the first quarter. After that, the Arabians took hold of the game and never let go, surging to a 44-32 victory. Although the Tigers never caught up, in the second half they answered often and strong.
Yorktown’s sophomore standout Jill Hopper scored nine of her 13 points in the first half alone.
The Arabians came out in the second half and were able to slow down the offensive weapon and defensive stalwart.
“We knew we had to give Hopper a lot of attention. We did a good job of sandwiching her in the second half,” said Doud. “We lost her in the first half. In the second half, we focused and we zoned in on weak side help, and we made more of a conscience effort to watch her.”
When Hopper came out of the game in the third quarter after two consecutive fouls, the Arabians took advantage of her absence to go on a four-point unanswered run. Hopper returned to the game only to then make two free throws to cut the deficit to 28-20. Hopper’s court presence could not be denied, only slowed down.
With Hopper back in the mix, the Tigers ended their scoring drought by scoring five points in less than a minute. The skill and toughness of Hopper, mixed with the speed and intensity of her teammates, was not enough to change the momentum enough to win the game.
Pendleton took complete control of the second half, allowing Yorktown to score only six points in the fourth quarter.
“We came into the game, and we weren’t ready for the intensity that Yorktown brought,” said PH senior Amanda Gaskin. “We went back into the second half knowing we had to execute our offense because we were making their defense look good even though it was just our offensive mistakes.”
The Arabians’ leading scorer, junior Mur Hagerman, turned over the title just for the night to Gaskin who had 16 points to Hagerman’s 14.
“I did well just because it was the team,” said Gaskin. “We’ve been working hard all year to execute our offense and work as a team, and tonight we really showed how much of a family we really are on and off the court.”
During the foul-filled first half, Yorktown and Pendleton swapped scoring runs and leads, but the Arabians ended the quarter with a 10-8 advantage.
“I never thought during the first half that we were going to lose,” said Hagerman. “But good teams will make a run at you. We had to respond, and I think we did a nice job of responding, working as a team and executing our offense.”
The Arabians can clinch the conference title outright with a win next week at New Palestine.
“It will be a big assignment for us next week, but we can go over there and beat them,” said Doud.
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