MTZ girls basketball goes 0-3 last week

Denver Anderson puts up a layup in a 63-41 loss against Mahomet-Seymour at home.

By BLAKE FAITH
Staff Writer

The Mt. Zion girls basketball team went 0-3 last week with conference losses against Taylorville and Mahomet-Seymour and a non-conference loss against MacArthur.

Against Mahomet-Seymour, the Braves found themselves opening the scoring when Denver Anderson found Kalliana Becker for a layup to make the score 2-0.

The Bulldogs scored six unanswered points and then the Braves answered. Abby Scharf found Anderson for an open three-pointer that Anderson misled to make the score 6-5 in favor of the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs increased their lead when Ivy Jurez picked up an offensive rebound and made the putback to make the score 8-5. Anderson then found Bracie Barnes for a mid-range jumpshot to cut the lead to 8-7.

The Braves finished the quarter down 13-12. The Braves took the lead when Anderson made a mid-range jumper to open the second quarter to make the score 14-13. The Braves extended their lead when Schar found Macie Fleming for a mid-range jumpshot and the next possession Schaf found Anderson for a layup to make the score 18-15.

Later in the quarter, the game was tied at 20-20 when Anderson found Becker for a layup. The Bulldogs closed out the quarter on a 12-4 run that made the score 34-22 at the end of the second quarter.

In the second half, the Bulldogs offense converted on more of their shots than the Braves did as the Bulldogs outscored the Braves 29-19 to get their 63-41 win.

“The first time we played them at their place and it was not pretty,” Coach Marvel said. “Our effort was embarrassing and the outcome was embarrassing. So we came out really well, especially the first 15 minutes of the second quarter, we had some goofy turnovers. We’ve still got to work on our boxing out, we have to work on just seeing the defense and making smarter passes. But I will not question our effort at all in this game. I’m incredibly pleased with that. We went to a very short bench with six kids, and the fact is that we probably ran out of gas, but they’re a tough matchup, they got excellent players, you know, they don’t lose anything when they serve. And, you know, they got great length and great strength and, you know, skilled kids, and they run their things really well and there’s no shame in this loss.”

Against MacArthur, the Braves fell 53-41. Against Taylorville, the Braves fell 52-41.

The Braves fell to 9-18 overall and 2-7 in conference play. The Braves will play Lincoln and Mattoon this week.