The Black Hills’ girls basketball team didn’t play their best basketball on Monday night, but it was enough for a double-digit victory, as the Wolves topped Eatonville 52-42.
“We didn’t play great, and we still won the game,” Black Hills coach Herb Guscott said. “And we’ll have a couple more of those this year. They just won an ugly game, and I’m proud of them for doing that. They didn’t quit.”
The Wolves (3-0) led by six after a quarter, nine after two and 15 after the third quarter. In the fourth, however, the Cruisers went on an 8-0 run to trim the deficit to seven with five minutes remaining.
After a timeout, the Wolves offense went back to work, as Kiley McMahon scored eight points in the quarter, Carmen Williams hit a layup in transition, and freshman Tyler Venable drilled a three to put the game away.
“They just did what they were supposed to do,” Guscott said. “I’m proud of the girls.”
McMahon and Venable led the Wolves in scoring, as McMahon scored 21 points and Venable tallied 18, including four threes.
One game after scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, Ashley Harris was limited offensively by 6-foot-4 Lillian Bickford. Harris held her own, defensively, however, as she helped hold Bickford to just five points.
“It was a tough night for the bigs, because they were big,” Guscott said. “They were just big and strong and it was a tough matchup for us.”
Guscott said that as a team, the Wolves will focus on playing man-to-man defensively, as opposed to zone. In the past, if a shooter got hot, it would come back to bite them, but playing more straight up will “leave nothing to chance.”
Guscott said that the team’s depth will also help them defensively, as they can prepare for more specific looks they’ll see throughout the season.
“We have 12 girls, so we can simulate different looks from other teams,” Guscott said. “We haven’t had that the last couple of years.”
Black Hills will kick off league play on Wednesday when they host Aberdeen.
