MEDORA
Despite a height disadvantage, the Medora girls basketball team’s game plan was to attack the post against Orleans on Monday.
At the start, the tactic mostly worked for the Hornets as they trailed by just one point after the first quarter and 20-15 at halftime.
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But things turned for the worst for the Hornets in the second half.
The Hornets committed nine fouls in the third quarter and committed seven turnovers, going on to lose
50-27 to the Bulldogs.
“I thought, in the first half, we played about as well as we expected to play,” Hornets coach Brad McCammon said. “In the second half we came out flat the first few minutes. We gave them that lead, and it’s hard to get back from that.”
In the first quarter, neither team could get their offense rolling as the Bulldogs took a 7-6 lead.
“We know we need to get the ball inside more to Avery (Carney) and Megan (Weddell) both,” McCammon said. “If we get the inside established, the outside will be there. That was our philosophy tonight. They went up against some size in the post, and I thought they did a good job.”
The trio of Carley McCammon, Avery Carney and Jadelyn Dean scored all nine of the Hornets’ points in the second quarter.
Following three points in the first eight minutes of play, the Bulldogs’ Addie Ramsey netted nine of her team’s 13 second-quarter points before halftime.
“We were able to do some different defensive schemes that kept (Orleans) off balance a little bit,” Brad McCammon said. “We moved the ball well; we had some decent shots. I think when we got fatigued in the second half, we started settling for outside shots, and that’s when we started to get down.”
The Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run before the Hornets’ Carley McCammon sunk two free throws to narrow the deficit to 30-17.
After Carley McCammon’s points from the charity stripe, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 stretch until Carney scored the Hornets’ first field goal of the second half with 26 seconds on the clock.
On their 14 shots from the foul line in the third quarter, the Bulldogs buried 11 shots.
Up 39-23 headed into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs stayed aggressive. They fouled-out Hornets starters Carley McCammon, Carney and Weddell.
The Hornets got field goals from Dean and Weddell in the fourth quarter for the team’s four points.
“We just got basically tired,” Brad McCammon said. “Bench-wise, we don’t go real deep yet. When you get physically tired you start making mental mistakes. It’s tough when you are in foul trouble and three of your starters foul out.”
At the end of the night, the Hornets finished with 22 fouls to the Bulldogs’ 11 infringements.
Neither team had strong ball possession. The Hornets committed 29 turnovers, and the Bulldogs finished with 20 giveaways.
Carley McCammon led the Hornets with nine points, and Ramsey finished with a game-high 19 points for the Bulldogs.
“I was proud of our effort,” Brad McCammon said. “They showed a lot of heart and guts. They’re a good group of kids who played hard.”