BELOIT—A young Beloit Turner girls basketball team that finished just 9-16 last season has been strolling merrily along this season and surprising opponent after opponent by using its intense defense to score transition baskets and rack up the victories.
Injuries to senior Neveyah House and sophomore Kaylee Kramer had the potential to derail the Trojans down the homestretch of the season, but Turner instead fully embraced the next-man up mentality.
The Trojans kept their strong year going with a 46-22 win over Brodhead in Rock Valley Rock action on Thursday night.
“All of a sudden you got a starter who goes down, then you got a second starter who goes down,” Turner head coach Nick Faralli said. “And rather than us looking around the locker room (asking) who's going to step up, we knew.
“We knew Kennedy Crall, a first-time starter as a freshman, would come in and do the job. We knew Brooklyn (Puleo) and other freshmen would do a nice job coming off the bench and handling the basketball for us. Olivia (Moore) came out and gave us great minutes defensively. That's just a testament to the character and the culture of your locker room.”
The Trojans (15-4, 8-2 RVR) have now won 10 of their last 11 games and halted hot Brodhead (12-7, 6-4), which had found an offensive groove and had won nine of their last 10 games coming into Thursday.
With Kramer and House both on the bench, Turner’s starting lineup consisted of a senior, three sophomores and a freshman.
That didn’t stop the Trojans from doing what they do best: suffocate their opponents defensively.
The Cardinals’ Alecia Dahl hit a two-pointer to put Brodhead up 4-3 out of the gate but Mariya Babilius hit a three to put Turner ahead for good shortly after.
Onnikah Williams’ layup cut the Trojans’ lead to 12-8 midway through the first half but Brodhead could only manage a free throw until after halftime.
Turner’s 24-3 run began with sophomore Jayla Hodges hitting back-to-back shots from the rim and Crall sinking a three. Maliyah Barnes also hit a trey and Jayden Pozzani hit a layup before halftime.
Babilius scored two treys and a two-pointer out of halftime around a Pozzani three and a layup from the Cardinals’ Addison Yates.
“Credit to Turner, they were making us force some tough shots,” Brodhead head coach Brian Kammerer said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t know if we could have shot any worse. It doesn’t boil down to a lack of effort, I thought our effort was still there. I told the kids in the locker room,
‘You're going to have bad days in life, and we just had one today.’”
Turner held a 36-11 lead after their run and steadily stayed 22 or more points ahead of Brodhead as Babillius scored eight more points down the stretch.
“We did a really good job of not taking quick ones,” Faralli said. “We were able to get the ball to change directions a couple of times. All of a sudden, the help side defense is collapsing and we're able to slip Mariya out to the perimeter for some open looks. If she's open, we're pretty confident where that ball is going to go.”
But as always, the Trojans’ offense resulted from their stout defense. The Cardinals had shot after shot contested in the paint, only scoring eight field goals and, combined with several turnovers along with great board work from Hodges, let Turner control the floor.
“Communication and energy (helped us defensively),” Pozzani said. “Every time we have energy, we create more turnovers. That’s what we need to win games.”
Babilius paced the Trojans’ nine three-pointers with five on her way to 19 points. Pozzani finished with seven points for Turner while Alecia Dahl led Brodhead with 10.
The Cardinals next face Clinton at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“I have good kids that are willing to play hard for each other, and we're just going to keep grinding,” Kammerer said. “I've been tremendously proud of how they've changed throughout the season in a positive way, and we go back to work at 3:00 tomorrow and find ways to get better.”
The Trojans will next host Delavan-Darien on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
“I love it,” Pozzani said of Turner’s success this season. “I've always dreamed of being here and playing with this team. I've been playing with these girls since I was in third grade. I love our connection and we just need to keep winning to continue our season.”
• BOXSCORE:
BELOIT TURNER 46, BRODHEAD 22
Brodhead 9 13 — 22
Turner 25 21 — 46
BRODHEAD (fg ft-fta pts) — Yates 1 1-2 3, Hilliard 1 1-2 3, Dahl 3 0-2 10, Jones 1 0-0 2, Schooff 0 2-4 2, Williams 2 0-2 4. Totals: 8 4-12 24.
TURNER (fg ft-fta pts) — Segerstrom 2 1-4 5, Barnes 1 0-0 3, Crall 2 0-0 6, Pozzani 3 0-0 7, Babilius 7 0-0 19, Hodges 3 0-0 6. Totals: 13 1-4 46.
3-pt Goals: Brod 1 (Dahl), BT 9 (Babilius 5, Crall 2, Barnes, Pozzani). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: Brod 7, BT 12.
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