Broncos fumble away opportunity
Nov. 14—DALEVILLE — Daleville coach Brandon Hanshew admitted he sounded like a broken record as he repeatedly lamented the play of his team for just one quarter of its Tuesday home game against Knightstown.
"We've got a lot of learning to do, and they are doing it," he said. "But, man, I hated that second quarter."
On this night, it was a disastrous second period for the Broncos as they lost 44-37 in a winnable home contest against Knightstown.
After the Broncos scored the first seven points of the game and led 11-7 late in the first quarter, they repeatedly gave away the basketball and, with it, control of the game.
With turnovers on their last two possessions of the first period and the first five times down the court in the second quarter, Daleville saw that four-point advantage quickly evaporate under an avalanche of mistakes and made shots by the Panthers.
Freshman Jaycie Cole gave Knightstown (3-1) the lead for good on a drive at the first-quarter buzzer before consecutive 3-point baskets by Destiny McGlothlin and Taylor Reagan and a rebound basket by Lily Drew to open the second quarter gave Knightstown its first double-digit lead at 21-11.
Olivia Pratcher finally got Daleville on the board in the period with a basket, but that was a temporary respite.
Drew drilled a 3-pointer followed with a drive in the lane, and Knightstown maintained a lead of at least 12 points for the balance of the quarter and took a 28-16 advantage into the locker room.
In the first half, Daleville committed 14 turnovers with 11 coming in the second quarter.
"In the first half, we played weak and we played timid at times," Hanshew said.
Three-pointers by Halleigh Lacey and McGlothlin to open the second half stretched Knightstown's lead over Daleville (3-2) to 34-18, its largest advantage of the game.
But a rebound basket by Modlene Campbell started a 10-point Broncos run — capped by a pair of Isabelle Williams free throws — to end the quarter, and the Broncos were back in the contest, trailing just 34-28.
While Williams shouldered much of the offensive load with Addisyn Gothrup in foul trouble, it was sophomore reserve Makenna Corbin who caused problems for Knightstown defensively. While she finished with just three points and two rebounds, numerous hustle plays and deflections from Corbin, as well as forcing Knightstown ball handlers into turnovers of their own, did not go unnoticed — or unappreciated — by her coach.
"She's my 'Rudy.' That's what I've nicknamed her," Hanshew said, referring to legendary Notre Dame walk-on Rudy Ruettiger. "She gives me everything she's got, and she's got that grit."
Knightstown recovered from the run enough to push the lead back to 10 points at 38-28 on a Lacey layup and to 41-31 on a Drew 3-point basket, but it could not fully shake the Broncos over the last three minutes.
Gothrup scored on the baseline before finding Williams for a layup to trim the lead to six. After a Knightstown free throw, Williams hit a pair to get Daleville within 42-37.
"If we play four quarters, we're a different team," Hanshew said. "It's just frustrating because it was right there. They just have to put out four quarters. The second quarter was a killer for us tonight."
Williams finished with a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds while Gothrup added eight points and Pratcher had six points and five rebounds.
Drew led the Panthers with 14 points.
Daleville will look to rebound on the road as they travel to Mid-Eastern Conference rival Wapahani for a Saturday evening contest.
Contact Rob Hunt at
rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
