RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
The Fremont Eagles overcame a 28-21 halftime deficit and tired legs from back-to-back games to blitz the Adams Central girls’ basketball team in the second half and claim a 59-42 victory at the Hangar Saturday night.
Fremont (1-2) gave the 3-0 Eastside Blazers all they wanted Friday in a 56-48 loss, and Eagle coach Shae Thomas thought that effort was a factor in her team’s lackluster first half, especially the second quarter, in which Adams Central outscored them 18-10. A pair of threes by sophomore Katie Fisher and another by Audrey Eisberg keyed the Jets’ dominant period.
“You could tell our legs were not there the first half,” Thomas said, “but that’s not a good enough excuse is what I told them at halftime. They came ready to play the second half. We settled down. We started making better decisions.”
Thomas’s halftime speech took effect right away, as the Eagles reeled off eight straight points to start the third quarter and take a 29-28 lead at the 4:56 mark on guard Mya Turner’s fast break layup.
But Grace Fisher’s two free throws and a putback, sandwiched around a baseline drive and bucket by Eagle freshman phenom Grace Scharlach, put the Jets (0-2) up 32-31 with 2:48 left in the quarter.
The Eagles responded with a 7-2 run to close the quarter and go up 38-34.
Just 16 seconds into the fourth quarter Grace Fisher, who led the Jets with 12 points, corralled Athena Schwartz’s missed jumper and put it in to make it a two-point game.
Then Scharlach took charge. In just over a minute, she scored seven straight points—on a three from the right corner and two drives—to jumpstart a 15-0 Eagle run. Fremont’s Addy Parr, leading scorer for the game with 22 points, contributed a three-pointer and a putback during the rally, which vaulted the Eagles to a 53-36 lead. It was too much for the Jets to overcome.
“I thought we did some really good stuff the first half, but I think conditioning and not enough mental toughness caught us in the second half,” said Adams Central coach Kyle Roe. “They made a run, and I think our minds kind of got down, and it was hard to get out of that.”
But Roe wasn’t totally displeased by the Jets’ play. “This week we spent a lot of time working on offense, and I thought we made a big jump,” he said, thinking mostly of that 18-point second period.
“We had some off-season departures,” he added, “and we’re trying to restructure some things. We’re kind of starting over and building what we need to build. We’ll get there.”
Roe thought Scharlach made a big difference in the game. “She definitely makes their offense go,” he said. “For a freshman, she’s a good ballplayer.”
Scharlach ended with 17 points, 13 of them in the second half. Turner added 14 for the Eagles.
Alexa Brotherton scored 10 for the Jets. Katie Fisher added seven, Eisberg five.
The Jets hit 34% of their two-point shots on 12 of 35. They made only two of 14 threes, for 14%. The Eagles were hot from the field, making 19 of 33 twos (58%) and three of six threes (50%).
Both teams converted only 43% of their free throws, the Jets sinking 9 of 21, the Eagles 10 of 23.
Fremont took the JV game, 43-18. Ellie Ogg led the Jets with eight points.
The Jets will host Bishop Luers next Tuesday and Blackford on Wednesday.