DARLINGTON — Winning can come with adversity. The Redbirds’ girls basketball team had that exact experience in a home win over Southwestern on Jan. 23, 46-35.
Darlington (10-6, 7-2 SWAL) won the tip, but the Wildcats (4-15, 3-7) scored the opening bucket less than 60 seconds into the bout. Maddie Gratz kept her squad in pace swinging around the elbow to put up a layup on the next possession. Unfortunately, buckets didn’t come easy through the conclusion of the half.
Following Gratz’s shot, the Redbirds went 4-for-31 from the field over the final 17 minutes of the half, and 3-for-12 from the charity stripe.
“Southwestern came in and played with a lot of energy and confidence in the first half,” Darlington head coach Mike Flanagan said. “They made us pay any time we did not reach shooters on time, in a position to contest. All of that was compounded by our inability to make shots, both from the free throw line and from the field. We got to the line, and got very good looks, but we couldn’t convert in the first half with any kind of consistency.”
On top of shooting, the Wildcats had an edge on the rebound line, 24-21. Most of Southwestern’s boards came on the defensive end to the tune of 20, allowing just nine offensive boards from the Redbirds. This was a sore spot for Flanagan, and he spoke with his team about it during the break.
“At halftime, we implored the girls to get more aggressive on the offensive glass, and credit to them — they were much more assertive in the second half,” he said.
Second verse, same as the first. A whole lot louder, and much less worse. Gratz grabbed her own miss out of the air, and drained the second chance to start scoring for either team to open the latter half.
Catie Hartwig kept the Wildcats on their heels intercepting a pass, though a Sadie Goebel three was just off the mark.
She made up for the miss moments later. Darlington recovered from a near-turnover as the ball was batted around on Southwestern’s court. The ball ended in Goebel’s hand and she sprinted around the scrambling Wildcats’ defense. She looked to march straight to the hoop, but at the baseline, Goebel stopped abruptly and put up a quick jumper.
The Redbirds smelled blood in the water and were hungry. Goebel drained a three with light coverage, and the host squad went on a rampage. Lylah Norgard added four points over a pair of free throws and a jumper int he paint. Goebel put in another three and Lilly Ritchie hit a putback, completing the comeback with just under eight minutes to play, 30-30.
Fortunately for Darlington, the final lead change wasn’t far away. Southwestern popped in a heavily contested three after moving the ball down court through a Redbirds full court press.
Goebel responded for her squad, collecting her own miss from outside the arc and releasing a successful jumper surrounded by Wildcats.
Southwestern then whiffed on a three attempt and called a timeout soon after. On the inbounds pass, Gratz hopped in to force a jump ball, and hand her team the ball. Darlington only needed 26 seconds to force the lead change.
Ritchie found Lexie Meyers in the corner for a wide open three, and the Redbirds didn’t look back for the final six minutes.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Gratz and Goebel led all scorers. They had 15 and 12 points, respectively, and were the only athletes in double figures. Meanwhile, Hartwig and Ritchie paced Darlington on the boards with eight rebounds apiece. The Redbirds also achieved a few of Flanagan’s goals for his team, including offensive rebounds (16), turnovers (12), and free throw attempts (25).
The points specifically were generated in part by ball reversals and having more confidence on the floor, two things Flanagan said he also touched base with the team on during the half.
“We put an emphasis on getting some inside touches off of ball reversals, and that definitely happened,” he said. “Most importantly, we encouraged them to be confident in their shooting. We shoot the ball a lot in practice every day, and we coaches know that we are capable of hitting shots. It has not always manifested itself in games — as was the case in the first half.”
