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Ida defense suffocates Huron - 11/21/2002
Ida allowed just one basket in the second half to pull away from New Boston Huron 48-27. BY JASON HAUPRICHT Evening News sports writer DEXTER -- There's not much opponents can do when the Ida girls basketball team decides to tighten its defense. New Boston Huron was the Blue Streaks' latest victim. Ida allowed only seven points in the second half on their way to a 48-27 victory over the Chiefs in the Class B District Tournament semifinal Wednesday night at Dexter. "Defense will always keep you in a game. The kids like to play it and they buy into our system and thrive on it because sometimes we aren't the most offensive team in the world," Ida coach Tim Leonard said. Ida's stingy defense limited Huron to only one basket in the final two quarters. Lauren Clark hit a jumper and made 3 of 4 free throws to account for the Chiefs' scoring in the third quarter. Danae Scott was credited with a field goal in the fourth quarter for Huron, but she didn't take the shot. An Ida player grabbed the rebound on a missed free throw and immediately shot at the wrong basket and it fell. "That's a quality basketball team with good post players and that's a weakness for us. That team stepped up its defense to another level in the second half. It was the best defensive team we've played all year," Huron coach Dave Metzgar said. Hailey Potter scored a team-high 14 points for the Blue Streaks (20-1) while Lyndsay Miller added 11 points and 6 rebounds. Lauren Clark finished with 15 points for the Chiefs (13-9) and teammate Tedi Johnston contributed 8 points and 4 boards. "Hailey (Potter) did well. These last couple of games, she's stepped up and shown some great senior leadership," Leonard said. The Chiefs led by one point late in the first quarter, but Miller and Chelsea Brancheau made back-to-back baskets to give their team a 13-10 lead. Ida added to its lead in the second quarter and held a 27-20 advantage at halftime. Huron managed to stay in the game because of superb play by Clark and Johnston, who combined for 18 points in the first two quarters. "Clark is a good basketball player and she creates one-on-one. You have to get someone in her face and we didn't do that the first half," Leonard said. The second half was a different story, however. Clark scored only five points against Ida's smothering defense. The senior guard also was plagued by foul trouble and she picked up her fifth personal with 5:45 remaining. "I didn't like seeing her go out that way," Metzgar said of Clark. "But I'm very proud of the seniors. They did a really good job for us." Besides Potter and Miller, several other players logged quality minutes for Ida Wednesday. Brancheau finished with 7 points, while Kristen Dye added 5 points and Melanie Nowak and Montri had 4 points apiece. "When we're on our game, that's what we do and it makes it harder for the other team because they can't just guard Miller or Potter," Leonard said of the balanced scoring. "I was pleased with our offense against the zone." Metzgar also was impressed with the Blue Streaks. "Miller and Nowak are tough post players and Potter slashes to the hole well. That's what happened the first time we played them. The post players just wore us down," Metzgar said. Dexter (13-9) advanced with a 57-23 win over Tecumseh (1-20) in the other semifinal. The Dreadnaughts will play Ida in the District final at 7 p.m. Friday. Ida defeated Dexter 42-40 earlier in the season, and Leonard expects another close ballgame in the final. "We're going to have to bring our "A" game to stay with Dexter. They like to run up and down the floor. We'll have to slow it down and get into our half court offense," Leonard said.