PHIL CAMPBELL - Craig Thomas is hopeful that his Phil Campbell girls will improve their ball-handling and shot-making this season to the point where they won’t have to rely as much on their defense to create offense as they have in the past.
But it’s nice to know they still can if the need arises.
The Lady Bobcats overcame a rough shooting start on Friday night with a dominant defensive effort, holding Tharptown to one field goal in the entire game and forcing 41 turnovers in a season-opening 65-15 rout of the Lady Wildcats.
“Defensively, I thought we played extremely well,” said Thomas, whose team overwhelmed Tharptown with its trademark 2-2-1 press for most of the first three quarters. “Our pressure defense did what it was supposed to do. We started slow on offense, but that was probably just first-game jitters. We settled down after the first quarter and started playing more disciplined basketball.”
After missing 11 of their first 12 shots in the game’s opening five minutes, the Lady Bobcats (1-0) made 52 percent (24-for-46) of their attempts the rest of the way. They were particularly potent in the second quarter, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line on their way to out-scoring the Lady Wildcats 28-8 to open up a 44-13 halftime lead.
“I think this team is definitely capable of shooting a higher percentage than we did last year,” Thomas said.
Clearly, they’re also capable of creating all sorts of problems with their length and quickness on defense. Tharptown (2-1), which had averaged 55 points in wins over Covenant Christian and Waterloo earlier in the week, failed to get anything going on Friday night. The Lady Wildcats made their first field goal attempt of the game (a short jumper by sophomore post player Brooke Daily with less than a minute gone by) and then proceeded to miss their final 29 shots, finishing the night just 1-for-30 from the floor. They had 15 turnovers by the end of the first quarter and 14 more in the second, many of which were caused by Phil Campbell’s aggressive, trapping scheme.
“Our pressure did the job,” Thomas said. “I don’t think they had seen pressure in their first two games like we put on them tonight. We’ve got a pretty knowledgeable group. They know who to guard, and they react to the ball well. They don’t stand around and watch.
“We had a few too many undisciplined fouls later in the game, but fouls are part of it when you play that style of defense. You just have to play smart and overcome it.”
Guards Darby Elliott, a senior, and Kallie Allen, a sophomore, wreaked havoc on the press all night, combining for 11 of Phil Campbell’s 21 steals. A pair of takeaways by Allen late in the first quarter led to easy layups for Elliott, stretching the Lady Bobcats’ early lead to 12-4. The margin swelled to 28-6 on a steal and layup by Elliott midway through the second, and then Allen came up with back-to-back steals that she converted into four free throws to make it 40-11 with just less than two minutes remaining in the half.
“Darby has always been able to get a bunch of steals,” Thomas said. “Now she’s got even more help.”
Allen, a Russellville transfer making her Phil Campbell debut, finished the night with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 from the line, adding four assists and six steals.
“I was very impressed with Kallie’s defense,” Thomas said. “She led us in steals tonight, and probably in assists, too. I knew she could score, but I was really pleased with how she played on the press.”
Elliott shot 6-for-11 from the floor on Friday, finishing with 13 points, four assists and five steals. Junior post player Abby Davis also had a productive night, putting up 13 points, five rebounds and three steals.
“I thought Abby played up to her potential, like usual,” Thomas said. “She did a good job for us on the back end of the press. She’s matured a lot. Like I’ve told her, this is her year to really show what she can do. She’s not a freshman or a sophomore. She’s not young any more.”
Davis finished the night 6-for-13 from the field, and aside from an 18-foot jumper in the third quarter all her baskets came in the paint—including a nifty left-handed finish to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
“She’s 5’11, and she can jump,” Thomas said of Davis, a two-time first-team All-County selection by the Free Press who went over the 900-point mark for her varsity career on Friday night. “That’s where we want to get her the ball—in the post.”
Post player Megan Bullock scored eight points off the bench for Phil Campbell, and fellow reserve Kaci Harris added seven points and five rebounds. Chloe Roberson chipped in with five points, three rebounds and four steals, and fellow senior Carley Nix added two points and three boards. Dakota Elliott scored two points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
Phil Campbell finished the night shooting 25-for-58 from the floor and 14-for-22 from the line.
Daily had two points, two rebounds and two blocks before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter. She did not return. Adriana Borden had three points and seven rebounds for the Lady Wildcats, and Aly Vandiver added three points and five boards. Gracie Montgomery scored three points, and Ameliah Dawson pulled down six rebounds. Tharptown shot 13-for-27 from the foul line.
The Lady Wildcats will open area play at home against Belgreen (1-0) on Tuesday. Phil Campbell will travel to West Point High School for a Thanksgiving tournament next week. The Lady Bobcats will play Cold Springs on Monday, Florence on Tuesday, and West Point and Oakland on Wednesday.
In previous action
Tharptown 50 Waterloo 21
Catie Dawson hit a pair of threes and scored 10 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Lady Wildcats in Thursday night’s road win.
Ameliah Dawson added nine points for Tharptown. Adriana Borden and Shaylee Wieting each had eight, and Brooke Daily added seven.
Tharptown 60 Covenant Christian 53
Shaylee Wieting scored 19 points in Tuesday’s season opener, helping the Lady Wildcats overcome a big night from Covenant guard Lexie Gann.
Adriana Borden added 14 points for Tharptown. Brooke Daily and Linda Bahena each scored seven, and Aly Vandiver finished with six.
Gann led Covenant with 29 points.