Lady Eagles cruise past Harrison
Jan. 3—ZIONSVILLE — Coming into this season, Zionsville girls basketball coach Andy Maguire knew it was going to be a challenge to control the glass after graduating most of their front-court production.
But for the most part this season, the Lady Eagles haven't missed a beat. That was evident Wednesday night during a 57-25 win over Harrison, where the Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Raiders 32-15.
"That's an area that we have worked a lot on to get better," Zionsville head coach Andy Maguire said. "They are actually a pretty good rebounding team so that was pretty awesome to win on the boards. That's an area I am really proud of our kids. We were worried about rebounding coming into the year, but collectively we have rebounded very well."
The Eagles grabbed more offensive rebounds (15) than the Raiders did defensive rebounds (14) in the game.
Faith Leedy led the way with seven rebounds, with Allie Caldwell and Caroline Sampson each grabbing six.
The Eagles aren't the biggest team out there, often times playing four guards, but have a desire to fight on the boards.
"We have worked a lot on making contact on box outs, but also tracking the ball and using our speed," Maguire said. "Faith is a good example of that — she tracks the ball well. Allie has gotten a lot better at that too, and even our kids who came in off the bench at the end did a good job. We have gotten better as the year went on."
The Eagles dominated the game from the get-go.
After falling behind 2-0 on the opening possession of the game, Zionsville closed the first quarter on a 19-1 run, finishing the first quarter on an Emma Haan half-court buzzer beater.
Harrison got no closer than 10 the rest of the way, as Zionsville led by 15 at the half and 20 at the end of three.
"We were pretty solid throughout," Maguire said. "We missed some open shots tonight, but we shared the ball really well and our defense was really solid throughout."
Allie Caldwell led the team with 21 points, hitting 4 of 8 3-pointers.
Emma Haan had 20, finishing one off the school record with 6 made 3-pointers.
As a team, the Eagles were 11 of 31 from behind the arc.
"They didn't close out really hard on us and I think we have to take those shots," Maguire said. "It's part of our offense and it is a few more than normal, but none of them were rushed and weren't bad shots. We had good ball movement to get open looks."
Brooke Karesh had six points and Sampson four for the Eagles, who improved to 14-3.
Zionsville travels to Pike on Saturday.
The Eagles have just six games left in the regular season.
"We are going to cut back on our practice time a little bit," Maguire said. "This break has been nice, even though we have been busy, to where we can go a few days then give them a day off. After next week, we really only have a game a week, so we are going to be able to watch a lot of film and prepare for each opponent."
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
