BELOIT—The Beloit Turner girls basketball team has used a simple yet effective blueprint to rack up the wins this season: aggressive full-court defensive pressure that leads to fastbreaks and well-rounded shooting which equals points on the board.
But that formula had a wrench thrown it when the Trojans met up with Rock Valley Rock Division-leading Edgerton on Monday night.
The Crimson Tide shredded Turner’s usually stout defensive formations and used some hostility of their own in the backcourt to prevent the Trojans from shooting their way back into it.
And Edgerton sealed sole possession of the conference title with a 53-29 win.
“They’re really, really, really good,” sophomore Portia Segerstrom said. “They do everything right. They pass and shoot good. We really got down on ourselves.”
Second-place Turner (18-5, 11-3) had challenged the Crimson Tide (22-1, 14-0), who are ranked eighth in Division 3 by Wissports.com, and nearly pulled off a second-half comeback in a 44-36 loss on Dec. 8.
Outside of a loss to Kettle Moraine, it was the closest contest Edgerton had played in this season. The biggest difference in this lopsided affair?
“It definitely was the energy,” said Segerstrom, who finished with seven points. “Last time (we were down 20 at halftime) and we brought each other up a lot more. I don’t think the hype was there (today). It sucks.”
“In the first half we left a handful of points at the rim where you'd like to convert those,” Turner head coach Nick Faralli said. “We got ourselves into trouble with bad fouls 50 feet away from the basket that put them in the bonus quickly. That changed the complexion of the first half.
“We were trying to fight uphill in the second half, and we just couldn't generate enough good shots to really make a run at it.”
While Turner’s defense forced turnovers early and made the Crimson Tide uncomfortable, it also had trouble keeping its opponent off the free-throw line. Gracee Langer helped Edgerton settle in as she scored six points on the way to a 16-8 lead.
Mariya Babilius, who paced Turner with 11 points, and Segerstrom hit back to back threes to make it a three-point game with just over four minutes left, but Claudia Jenny started to get hot and hit a pair of 3-pointers to make it 27-19 at halftime.
“At times we were doing a good job keeping the dribble out of the lane and forcing contested shots,” Faralli said.
Five-straight points from Babilius cut it to 33-25 midway through the second half but Edgerton almost totally locked down the Trojans offensively from there. Two free throws from Segerstrom and a bucket from Maliyah Barnes were the only points that Turner got the rest of the way.
“When you play good teams, you can't have giveaways and go empty on possessions without creating shots for yourselves,” Faralli said. “We had far too many of those moments tonight.”
While the Crimson Tide’s defense was forcing turnovers and bad shots, its offense was getting hot inside and out. Jenny scored two treys on her way to 11 second-half points while Marti Rebman scored eight as Edgerton ended the game on a 20-4 run.
Jenny scored a game-high 17 points while Rebman added 12 for Edgerton, who went 11-for-16 on free throws.
The defensive woes were no doubt worsened with rebounding-leader Jayla Hodges in foul trouble for a good chunk of the night.
“We gave up a couple of second-chance opportunities,” Faralli said. “They got a couple of defensive rebounds and kick-out threes. Those are backbreakers, it’s such a huge momentum swing.”
But with the two squads in the same regional bracket, a championship could be on the horizon the next time they face off.
“We’re going to come back from this,” Segerstrom said. “It’s a new day tomorrow. We're gonna come in, work hard and lift each other up because we know this is not the end of it. We know we can go far, and if we happen to see them again, then we're going to beat them this time.”
But first, Edgerton finishes the regular season with a home game against Clinton while the Trojans end at Big Foot. Both play Thursday at 7 p.m.
• BOXSCORE:
EDGERTON 53, TURNER 29
Edgerton 22 31 — 53
Turner 18 11 — 29
EDGERTON (fg ft-fta pts) — Rebman 4 1-3 12, Jenny 6 1-2 17, Langer 2 4-5 8, Scharlau 2 0-0 5, Bowen 0 2-2 2, Callmer 1 1-2 3, Shaw 2 2-2 6. Totals: 17 11-16 53.
TURNER (fg ft-fta pts) — Puleo 0 0-1 0, Segerstrom 2 2-2 7, Moore 0 1-2 1, House 0 1-4 1, Barnes 1 0-0 2, Crall 1 0-0 3, Kramer 1 2-2 4, Pozzani 0 0-2 0, Babilius 4 0-0 11. Totals: 9 6-13 29.
3-pt Goals: Edg 7 (Jenny 4, Rebman 2, Scharlau), BT 5 (Babilius 3, Crall, Segerstrom). Fouled out: Hodges. Total fouls: Edg 15, BT 16.
Most Popular
Comments / 0