Bruton Girls Hold off Jamestown Rally, Win 41-29

By Will Armbruster Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Bruton girls basketball coach Leon Dillard saw something from his team Tuesday night that too many other times this season his lady Panthers couldn’t do: overcome adversity rather than crumble in it.

 

After Bruton put together a solid first half to take a double-digit lead (25-15) into halftime, the visiting Eagles, playing a much more urgent, in-your-face style man-to-man defense, harassed the Panthers into six turnovers and a 0-6 shooting slump during the third quarter. Jamestown scored eight points – six off turnovers – in the period to make it a two-point game (25-23) entering the fourth quarter.

But the Panthers displayed the type of resiliency that was often absent earlier in the season and held on behind clutch free-throw shooting and a big boost from the bench to win 41-29 and move back above .500 in Bay Rivers District play.

“We finally gelled together at the end of a game,” Dillard said after the game. “These young ladies believed in each other that they could get the job done and got us a big victory.”

With the win, the Panthers (8-10, 8-7 BRD) took the season sweep of their cross-town rivals while the loss dropped Jamestown (10-7, 9-6 BRD) a game behind Smithfield (10-5 BRD) for third place in the district standings.

Jamestown coach Mary Glisan credited her team’s defensive intensity in the second half, but said the Eagles just didn’t have enough to overcome the early deficit. She said her team’s poor shooting throughout was the biggest difference, however.

Jamestown shot 8-26 (30%) from the floor during the first half and 15-43 for the game, and lacked a go-to scorer at the end, something Glisan said the Eagles have suffered from all season.

“We couldn’t finish offensively,” Glisan said. “When you can’t score, it doesn’t matter how good your defense is even if your just letting them score every once in a while.

“I wish I had an Amber Warner,” Glisan added of the Panthers’ star point guard, who she coached in AAU for several seasons and may be the best scorer in terms of creating her own shot in the district. “I love Amber, I think she’s awesome. We allowed her to control the first half and that’s how we got behind.”

Warner scored just seven points Tuesday night, but made an impact in other facets. She dished out six assists and grabbed five rebounds while turning the ball over just twice.

“A lot of teams key in on [Amber] and think she’s going to do everything,” Dillard added. “But she believes in her teammates and they’re stepping up and following her lead and tonight was a perfect example of that.”

After Jamestown battled all the way back to cut the Panthers’ lead to two (25-23) at the start of the final period, Tiana Mapp provided a much-needed spark off Bruton’s bench.

Mapp opened the quarter with a three from the corner and buried a second less than two minutes later to push the Panthers’ lead back to six, 31-25.

Bruton did a much better job taking care of the ball in the final quarter and effectively worked the ball around the perimeter which limited Jamestown’s opportunities to trap and force turnovers.

Warner and Sharde Rice, who led Bruton with 10 points, went 6-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch while Jamestown shot 0-4 from the stripe during the final quarter.

With just seven players on Bruton’s roster, the bench played a critical role in the outcome.

Mapp provided the spark to close the game with six points in the final quarter, while Erika Sluss got the Panthers going early with six in the opening frame.

Trailing 5-0 in the first quarter, Sluss knocked down a three-pointer from the wing seconds after coming off the bench to get Bruton on the board. Jamestown would go back up 8-5 before Sluss answered with a tough layup, plus a foul, to draw the Panthers back even.

“The bench was terrific tonight,” Dillard said. “We’re down to seven players now, but those ladies (Sluss and Mapp) know their roles and are sticking together. We obviously needed them tonight and they delivered for us.”

 

Bruton 41  Jamestown 29

Bruton 12  13  0  16 - 41

Jamestown 9  6  8  6 - 29

Bruton (8-10, 8-7 BRD)- Rice 10, Henderson 8, Mapp 8, Warner 7, Calloway 2. Totals 15; 8-12 41

Jamestown (10-7, 9-6 BRD)- Lyttle 8, Williams 8, Chillers 6, Hecker 5, Watson 2. Totals 14; 1-7 29