PEMBERVILLE — After losing four straight, Eastwood girls basketball was up to its old tricks again, forcing 30 turnovers to defeat visiting Bowling Green, 42-30, Saturday.
“It felt good to bring the energy back, regroup and get a ‘W’ at home,” Eastwood coach Brittany Butler said. “I thought we looked like ourselves tonight.
“I thought we did a really good job of forcing turnovers. We got into passing lanes, we were aggressive, and it led to offensive transition for us.”
As a result, even though the Eagles made only 24% of their shots from the field, they got off 22 more shots than the Bobcats — almost always a winning formula.
Plus, seven different Eastwood players had multiple steals, and when the Eagles had to make shots, they did, including four three-pointers in the first half.
“It was a long drought but we are back,” Eastwood senior Amelia Ward said. “I think the difference tonight was our defensive energy and effort was much higher than the past couple games.
“Offensively, the last game we kind of struggled a little bit, so we came back out and hit some threes, which was really good for us.”
Eastwood senior guard Kayla Buehler was the sparkplug down the stretch, and when she decided that she was going to the rim in the fourth quarter, the Bobcats had little answer for her defensively but to foul.
“That was one thing that was a point of our emphasis was making sure we take her drive away,” BG coach Jake Vanneman said.
“As the game progressed, we allowed her to get downhill and she did what she does, which is get to the rim and score and get to the free throw line.”
Buehler finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five steals and Ward had nine points, five rebounds and two steals.
Senior guard Lola Thompson led BG with 12 points and eight rebounds and senior post Allison Fry had a double-double 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bobcats led just once, early in the first quarter, but later Thompson hit an 18-footer at the third quarter buzzer to keep the Bobcats to within single digits, 31-23.
Buehler scored on a steal and layup to open fourth quarter scoring, and then one minute later drove to the basket, scored and was fouled, completing the old-fashioned three-point play to push the Eagles ahead, 36-23.
Buehler scored eight of Eastwood’s 11 fourth-quarter points, including making 4-of-5 free throws.
For the Eagles, junior Jordan Jensen had seven points and three steals and senior Reilly Might had six points and two steals.
Eastwood senior Paige Hoodlebrink had four points, eight rebounds, and three steals, sophomore Piper Sutton had four points, seven rebounds and three steals, and senior Saylor King had four steals.
The Eagles made 14-of-58 field goals, were 10-for-16 (63%) from the line, had 14 turnovers, and held a slim 38-36 advantage off the boards.
“I think that we really wanted this one,” Butler said. “We needed something to regroup and I thought that our kids did a great job of getting after it defensively, then I thought we made some good decisions offensively.
“I think that we shared the ball well, I think our shot selection was good, and we had a lot of kids who played their role really well tonight.”
The Bobcats shot 36% (13-for-36) from the field and made 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Senior guard Macyn Dean-Scheele, who was not playing at 100% because of illness, scored four points, and junior post Anne Konecny had four points, six rebounds, and blocked four shots.
The 5-foot-11 Konecny has moved into a starting role and is starting to make a difference with her height and ability to score in the paint, especially in the first half.
“She’s starting to come into her own,” Vanneman said. “She’s starting to be more aggressive, and she’s more athletic than she’s giving herself credit for.
“So once she figures out that she’s able to be more aggressive offensively and defensively and use her length to her advantage.”
