For The Tribune
EDINBURGH
The Medora girls basketball team fell behind early in a road game Saturday and didn’t have enough size or depth to be able to catch Edinburgh, losing 66-21.
The Hornets suffered from cold shooting (0 for 6) and turnovers (nine) in falling behind 22-0 after six minutes of play.
Carley McCammon finally lit up Medora’s side of the scoreboard with a basket with 1:27 left in the opening quarter. Jadelyn Dean added a field goal on Medora’s next possession before the Lancers moved on top 26-4 at the end of the quarter.
Edinburgh built a 40-4 lead by halftime, as Medora went 0 for 7 from the floor, missed all four of its free throws and had eight turnovers in the second quarter.
Hornets coach Brad McCammon scouted the Lancers and was familiar with their strength. He said his team’s inability to execute its offense hurt from the start.
“They did a nice job of pressuring the ball full court, and then they went into a half-court trap,” he said. “I told the girls that they need to learn how to split that trap. I said, ‘If you pick up your dribble, you can’t see over them to get out of that trap.’”
McCammon said he was able to talk over some things in the locker room at the half and felt his team came out more relaxed and did a better job in the second half.
“I thought in the second half, we played hard and at least put some points on the board and tried to do some things positively,” he said. “(The Lancers) are a good ballclub, and they force you into a lot of mistakes. We finally understood that we just had to take it at them. We were settling for a lot of outside shots in the first half. Their defense was pushing us out, and we just didn’t really get into any of our sets.”
McCammon pointed out some positives.
“I was glad to see Kailen Flynn and Lillie Hatfield do some positive things for us,” he said. “Lillie had that steal and went the length of the court (in the third quarter) and scored a layup. They’ve got to be offensive minded because they were timid. They’re getting into it.
“We’ve expect Jadelyn and Carley to do everything. It doesn’t take long for a team to figure out who we’re keying on. I thought the kids played hard in the second half.”
Dean topped the Hornets (1-5) in points with 10, while McCammon led in rebounds with six.
A pair of seniors, 6-foot Mariah Weddle and 5-11 Kayli Littiken, each had 14 points and nine rebounds to spark the Lancers (2-4).
“We’ve just got to learn to be tough,” coach McCammon said. “We’re not physically strong. If you’re small, you better be really quick or really good shooters; and so far, we haven’t got that down to where we need to be. We had a lot of good looks in the first half. The shots just weren’t falling. We’re working on a lot of shooting in practice, trying to get them comfortable in their approach.”