Watching the first minute of Tuesday’s ballgame between Bishop Dwenger and Bellmont, the casual fan may have given the Saints the advantage in the early-season non-conference battle. The Saints D-I recruit, Giselle Eke, an intimidating figure in the paint, stepped out and drained a three to put Dwenger on the board first.
A deeper look, however, on the possession before for the Braves, showed that they were ready for the challenge against the 6’2” senior. Running a zone, the Braves moved the ball around the perimeter and picked their passes toward the interior, with both Emily Bleke and Kamryn Jarvis distributing the ball well around the imposing Eke. Although they didn’t score on that possession, it was obvious that the Braves had the passing skills, the game plan, and the size of Bleke and Jarvis to make it a long night for the SAC team. Bleke led all scorers with 22 points and the Braves took the game, 59-36.
“I was happy with the way we defended her (Eke),” said coach Heim after the win. “I know she had a decent amount of points but she hit some outside shots and I’ve never seen her make those. We did well against her in the post.”
Heim said he especially appreciated how the Braves handled Eke on the boards.
“I thought rebounding-wise, we were awesome on her,” he said. “She rarely, if ever, got second-chance shots.”
Bleke hit two shots to give the Braves the lead and the Saints struggled to break the Bellmont zone. A bucket by Jarvis down low and two free throws by Bleke gave the Braves an 8-7 lead at the quarter.
The shooting for both teams heated up in the second quarter, with the Braves having their best offensive quarter of the year so far when Dwenger simply did not have an answer for Emily Bleke. The junior knocked down two threes and five shots overall for 12 points in the quarter.
After Dwenger took the lead at 9-8, coach Andy Heim brought on Hailey Cole for the first time this season. The senior suffered a shoulder injury from a collision in the volleyball state finals and had not played yet this season. In her first 30 seconds on the court, she picked up an assist, drawing attention in the paint to open up freshman Lanie French for a three, and a steal, poking the ball away near midcourt in transition and showing her ball-handling skills by dribbling it up the court. Cole finished with ten points on 5 of 6 shooting from the free throw line. She drained a three in the fourth quarter to show her versatility.
Another highlight for the Braves in the second quarter was a steal at midcourt by Gwen Laurent, who then beat Eke to the bucket and made a nice finish to put the Braves up three.
Coach Heim used a time out with 2:20 left and his team up 25-17 to really tighten the screws on the home team. The Braves finished the half with a ten-point lead thanks to a wide-open layup by Bleke off an inbounds pass as the visitors went into the locker room up 32-22.
The Bellmont D held Eke without a bucket in the third quarter and Heim found the right combination of minutes for Hailey Cole and Jarvis, who showed her versatility with a three herself after pulling down an offensive rebound away from Eke. The Braves led 42-29 heading into the final eight minutes.
Bellmont’s defense continued to wear down the Saints, who continued to attempt to force turnovers with the full-court press. The Braves handled the ball well when pressed and showed their passing skills with six different girls making it into the scoring column in the fourth quarter. The Saints, meanwhile, only made four shots in the final eight minutes.
Eke, who finished with 15 points, did produce a couple of nice blocks in the final quarter, but coach Heim was undoubtedly happy with the way his team neutralized the St. Francis (PA) commit.
Arabelle Laurent found her moments to score in transition, scoring three buckets in the final quarter to finish with nine points.
Jarvis finished with six points and Lanie French had seven. Gwen Laurent had a bucket in the second quarter and Kate Kitson buried a three in the fourth quarter.
The Braves will host a very good Jay County team Friday and then travel to Heritage Saturday in a game that will be broadcast live on WZBD.