Notre Dame’s Kenzie Campbell had just driven the length of the court, shrugged off contact, and finished a righty layup. And then she popped open in the corner to hit a momentous three pointer to pull Notre Dame within four of Boyd Buchanan. The fighting Irish had all the momentum and the home crowd was starting to feel tense.
This nervousness did not affect Boyd’s two stellar guards.
Jalisa Sanders came right back and took a handoff from Sarah Durham before connecting on the layup out of the timeout. Reeves then went baseline on the next time down the floor, avoiding defenders and using the glass to flip home a shot as she was being fouled. This outburst gave the Buccaneers the boost they needed to close out their 52-33 divisional game.
“It’s a huge advantage, because you can’t just guard one of them,” Boyd Buchanan coach Tracey Walker said. “Their maturity level has just gotten so much better than last year.”
Notre Dame drew first blood when Makyla Skaggs got a putback, but Boyd Buchanan’s Yani Garner came right back when she connected on a layup out of the pick and roll. It was a fairly ragged first quarter though, as both teams committed their fair share of fouls, bad passes, and travels. Jalisa Sanders was easily the standout in this first period, as her smooth pullup from around 15 feet hit nothing but the net. On the next trip down the floor, she one-upped herself by stealing the ball, pushing the pace, and hitting a layup while being fouled.
Notre Dame’s Claire Mullins connected on the other Fighting Irish basket of the quarter when she took the ball to her right, spun back left to avoid the defense, and finished a southpaw scoop for two. Boyd Buchanan, when they weren’t fouling, hit the last two baskets though, with a Garner drive followed by a Dani Reeves pullup from the free throw line after actions to run one of their forwards off screens didn’t go anywhere.
In the second quarter, Sanders gave Reeves a run for her money as having the best crossover of the game. She went from left to right to shake her defender, and then fired a no-look dime a la LaMelo Ball to Garner, who put home a layup as she stood all alone under the basket. She then showed off her range when Sanders sized up her defender before uncorking a deep Bankshot three from the left wing.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame had difficulty creating clean looks from the field. Most of their chances actually came from the free throw line, as Boyd Buchanan were prone to reaching and swiping down at the ball. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, the Irish seemed to be using a beachball at line and missed freebie after freebie. Kenzie Campbell got a good bounce on one of her putbacks toward the end of the second quarter, and the Buccaneers went into halftime with a sizable 25-13 lead.
If the first 16 minutes were a slog, then the next four minutes were a flurry of points and nonstop action. First came a quick layup by Notre Dame’s Makyla Skaggs on a dime from Mary Sotuyo, and then Dani Reeves slipped through the defense on the baseline and threw up a reverse layup over her head to strike back. Notre Dame’s Mary Fillauer scored her only basket of the night when she steamrolled her way from end to end before laying up two, and then Reeves answered right back a few moments later with another acrobatic layup with her right hand in traffic.
“We were just a half a step too slow on defense,” coach Walker said. “To Notre Dame’s credit, they have a couple of good girls so you can’t help as much. But we will get it cleaned up.”
But after Skaggs hit the layup plus the foul midway through the quarter, the rest of the third devolved into an endless parade of free throws and fouls. Every time something of a rhythm would begin to be established, a Boyd or Notre Dame player would hack the ballhandler and send them to the free throw line.
Following Kenzie Campbell’s aforementioned scoring outburst to start the quarter and Scott and Reeves’ answers, the Buccaneers took control of affairs to close out the game. With two experienced guards in their backcourt, they were able to run the four-corner offense and burn precious seconds off the clock against a team desperate to keep their season alive. Wing Sarah Durham rattled in a three and moved into open space for a layup in the quarter, giving the Buccaneers even more space on the scoreboard. Notre Dame went cold from the floor though and could not mount a comeback.
“I’m proud of our girls,” coach Walker said. “We’ve gotten more mature over the year, and we’re starting to be able to handle end of game situations. I’m just proud of them, because they played hard. They don’t quit and they play hard. ”
Boyd Buchanan plays at Silverdale on Friday, while Notre Dame hosts Grace on the same day.
SUMMARY
NOTRE DAME 05 08 13 07 - 33
BOYD BUCHANAN 11 14 06 21 - 52
NOTRE DAME (33) - Kenzie Campbell 15, Fillauer 5, Skaggs 8, Gaines 2, Mullins 2, Wolf 1.
BOYD BUCHANAN (52) - Stone 3, Robertson 1, Winston 2, Jalisa Sanders 20, Dani Reeves 13, Garner 6, Durham 7.
3-POINT GOALS: Notre Dame 1 (Campbell); Boyd Buchanan 3 (Sanders, Durham, Reeves).
(Contact the author at joseph.a.dycus@gmail.com)