The Windham Bombers girls’ basketball team’s first half lead against Northeastern Athletic Conference foe Matthews evaporated in the second half as foul trouble and a bad third quarter sank them, leading to a 40-34 defeat in a crossover league duel last Thursday evening at Marty Hill Court.
“We got a lot of quality shots and a lot of breakaway shots, but we did not convert any of them,” said Coach JJ Collins. “When two of your three guards are in foul trouble and have to sit and you are the end of it, you just hope they can hold on to the fourth. You can make a final push, which I thought we did a very decent job of until the last minute.”
After a strong first half in which the Bombers (1-11, 0-6) held a 20-12 advantage, they had to lean on their underclassmen to finish the game as junior guard Makenzi Blockinger and sophomore guard Makenna Jones fell into foul trouble.
According to the nine-year coach, Jones was issued two fouls in the first half but committed two more in the first two minutes of the third period while Blockinger battled foul trouble throughout the game,
Once Blockinger joined Jones on the bench, the Mustangs struck quickly, going on a 10-0 run to take command of the game and hold a 30-24 advantage heading into the fourth period. With both guards sidelined for most of the third period, the Bombers struggled on offense and were outscored by an 18-4 margin.
“At the end of the day you realize what you have out there and how you have to go about business from this point forward. It felt like we did too many things well to focus on that one negative,” he added.
He added that although the Bombers successfully broke Matthews’ trap defense earlier in the game, they still pushed the pace too often in the second half and needed to slow the game down and operate a halfcourt-style of offense.
Collins said that playing fast and loose has been one on Windham’s strengths this year, given the athleticism of the entire roster but with so many inexperienced players getting meaningful varsity minutes, playing in transition has also been a learning experience for them.
“We need to do a better job of shot selection,” he said. “I want them to work their butts off on defense. I am never going to tell them to not shoot on offense but that being said, every now and then we have to talk about shot selection. Some of the shots we are putting up are not necessarily the shots that we are looking for.”
Jones and Blockinger’s foul trouble ultimately caught up with them in the final period, as Blockinger recorded her fifth foul at the start of the fourth period.
Jones kept the Bombers within striking distance by cutting Matthews’ lead to 33-32 but soon was issued her fifth foul, leaving Windham to finish the game with three freshmen on the court for the final five minutes of regulation.
The Bombers surrendered a 7-0 run to Matthews to finish the game and did not make a field goal in the final minutes of play. Senior guard Skylar Bailey scored their only other points on a pair of free throws.
Collins acknowledged that not having Blockinger or Jones on the court in the final minutes pushed Windham out of its comfort zone.
“Some of them were not sure if they wanted to touch the ball, some of them were not sure how to run the offense which is weird because we have run it all year. The positive is that they got to be in the heat of the battle and now they know what it takes to stay in the heat of the fight,” he noted.
Although Windham returned this season having graduated no players from last year’s squad, the depth has been tested from the start of the season as underclassmen such as Dez Scott, Aralynn Woofter and Arianna Maczko have been thrust into action sooner than expected due to injuries to the upperclassmen.
Collins said that the Bombers’ underclassmen are competing in situations that they are not accustomed to but added that the experience they are gaining in these new circumstances can better prepare them for their later years of varsity ball.
Following another NAC crossover game against Cardinal at home on Monday and a road contest against league rival Grand Valley on Thursday, Windham will face NAC foe Pymatuning Valley in Andover on Jan. 19 at 10 a.m.
