Mansfield Christian

February 12, 2011

Central Christian 42

Mansfield Christian 28

A point barrage as the first half came to a close and another solid defensive effort led to win #9 for the Lady Comets as we traveled to Mansfield to defeat the Lady Flames. While we had a season low 16 turnovers we did have to overcome 7 TO’s on the final eight possessions of the first quarter. With the win we improve to 9-10; we travel to Mansfield Temple Thursday with the opportunity to finish the regular season with a .500 record!

Quarter scoring: 6-11, 16-3, 8-6 and 12-8. MC closed the first quarter with an 8-0 run primarily due to our TO’s We improved our offensive play in the second to cut the score to 13-14; shooting 4/11 from the free throw line kept us from taking the lead when we should have. The decisive moments of the game came on our final three possessions of the half with a 9-0 run. Back to back 3’s by Jana gave us a burst of excitement. The play of the game was a well executed baseline OOB play with :02 left which had Malesa drain a corner three as time expired. We went into halftime with all the momentum and a significant surge in confidence. Our defensive effort, energy and execution were outstanding as we stymied the offensive execution of the Lady Flames.

Jana’s barrage of threes continued in the opening minutes of the third as we worked our way to a 30-20 lead to head into the final period. Unfortunately we went nine consecutive possessions without scoring in the period. An early 6-0 run in the fourth gave us a 36-20 lead and from there we managed the game clock to close out with the win. It was fun to watch the defensive determination of the team as well as the continued growing understanding of what it means to play with intensity.

Jana led us in scoring with 20 but left the game midway in the fourth with a sprained ankle; she continues to sizzle from downtown with a 5/11 performance. Offense becomes pretty simple when we move the ball, work inside – outside and knock down open shots. Kelly added 8 points and had 6 assists. Syd ripped away 8 rebounds and Makena grabbed 5.

We were 12/48 (25%) from the floor; our performance from the line was disappointing, 12/26 (46%). Rebounding continues to be a struggle, 25-26. We had 16 turnovers while our defense forced 30, including 14 steals.

Our JV’s bolted to an 0-13 first quarter lead and won 32-23! It was rewarding to see this group’s improvement in the game of basketball be rewarded with a big W.

We must focus on one game at a time: we have Mansfield Temple on the road Thursday.