RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
BERNE – The Monroe Central Golden Bears outscored the South Adams Starfires 22-9 in the fourth quarter to break a 34-34 tie and coast to a 56-43 victory Monday at the Stardome.
The win was the seventh in a row for the Golden Bears and lifted their record to 8-1.
The sophomore guard duo of Brynlee Patterson and Aberee Ervin combined for 14 points in the period to spearhead the Monroe Central attack. Patterson scored eight by hitting three of her four field goal attempts and both of her free throws. Ervin hit her only shot from the field—a floor-length press breaker layup—and four of five from the free throw line to tally six points.
Meanwhile the Starfires (5-6) went cold in the period, making only three of 14 attempts from the field, including two out of nine three-point shots.
Monroe Central’s Finja Heckelmann gave a sign of things to come on the Golden Bears’ first possession of the final frame, stealing the ball and racing the length of the court for a layup. Eighteen seconds later Patterson fielded a long out-of-bounds pass from the far end of the court and drove in for another easy two.
The Starfires’ Ana Lehman hit a three to cut the lead to one at 38-37. Patterson responded with two free throws and a layup, and fellow sophomore Haidyn Dumpert followed with a pair of short jumpers to cap an 8-0 run. Suddenly it was 46-37 with 4:29 to go. The Starfires were forced to play catchup the rest of the way.
The teams were nearly even in the first half, battling to a 9-9 score in the first quarter. They were still tied at 23-23 in the second quarter until Charlee Morris hit a three with just two seconds on the clock to make it 26-23. Laney Trausch, with 11 points, and Lucy Schwartz, with seven, provided most of the Starfires’ offensive firepower in the half.
In the third quarter, the Starfires got down by seven at 32-25 with four minutes to go but then went on a 9-2 run to tie it. Lehman (a three-pointer), Schwartz (steal and layup), Trausch (a put back), and Adalyn Smith (15-foot jumper) all scored during the rally.
Starfire coach Brett Freeman was disappointed with his team’s defense, especially in the fourth quarter, when Monroe Central hit several wide-open close-range shots. “We’re usually pretty good about helping each other out,” he said, “but tonight we were not there to rotate around and get some help on those drives.”
“We knew that their guards really look to attack the basket,” he added. “At times we did all right with it, but I don’t know if it was some of our girls just getting a little tired, a little fatigued, but our rotations were not there to make them have to make the extra pass. We didn’t have much of that tonight.”
Trausch led the Starfires with 15 points. She also led in rebounds with 13. Lehman scored 14, Schwartz nine, Smith three, and Shaylee Sprunger two.
Ervin topped the scoring for Monroe Central with 16. Patterson added 14. Heckelmann, Morris, and Dumpert all scored seven.
The Starfires were 13-of-32 (41%) on two-point attempts, 4-of-21 (19%) on threes, and 5-of-9 (56%) on free throws. The Golden Bears were 20-of-36 (56%) on twos, 3-of-16 (19%) on threes, and 7-of-9 (78%) from the line. South Adams had 20 turnovers, Monroe Central 15.
There was no JV game. South Adams will host Adams Central Thursday.
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