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2nd quarter propels JM to defeat Brooke

Mike Mathison TO THE LANE — Brooke sophomore Hope Bowman goes to the basket during the first quarter of Monday’s contest with visiting John Marshall. The Monarchs defeated the Bruins, 62-50. Bowman finished with 23 points.

WELLSBURG — The Brooke girls’ basketball team controlled the first six minutes, but the remainder of the night belonged to John Marshall in a 62-50 victory over the Bruins Wednesday night inside the Brooke Wellness Center.

The hosts led 16-8 with 1:55 left in the first quarter, but the visitors turned things around.

The visitors outscored Brooke 26-12 the rest of the way in the first half to build a 34-28 lead at halftime.

“We just made some young mistakes,” Bruins (2-1) head coach Ryan Scherich said. “I don’t want to say mistakes, but we did some bad things. We made a bad pass here and there, and we did not grab rebounds. We gave them second chance opportunities. They hurt us on the boards. We were not strong with the ball when it came off of the glass.”

The girls from Brooke County led 16-11 after the first quarter, but the girls from Marshall County outscored the Bruins, 23-12, in the second quarter to take a six-point lead at halftime.

“They jumped on us early,” John Marshall (2-1) head coach Brock Melko said. “Our full-court press was not as effective as I thought it would be. They deserve credit for playing well moreso than us not playing well. They were ready to go.

“We had to regroup. We dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter, and we had to regroup.”

Grace Fronapfel finished with a team-high 23 points for the Monarchs, while Avery Derrow delivered 11 points and Shay Straughn netted 10 points.

“We were getting open looks, but we were not playing well on defense,” Melko said. “I was more concerned about our defense than I was our offense. We were not playing well on defense. We did not slide our feet on defense. We committed some dumb fouls. We decided to focus on our half-court defense as compared to our full-court defense.”

Hope Bowman netted a team-high 23 points for the Bruins, while Ashley Arca added 12 points.

The Monarchs used the 3-pointer to their advantage in the second quarter, canning three en route to gaining the advantage.

“We have improved a lot,” Scherich said. “We have improved over the last couple of seasons, and it has shown. We get after it in practice. The girls push each other. We are a better basketball team.

“We lost our defensive assignments a few times. The kids played hard. They played all out. We are going to learn from this, and we are going to get better as a team as a result of it.”

John Marshall outscored Brooke, 19-12, in the third quarter to take a 53-40 lead into the fourth quarter.

“John Marshall did what they do,” Scherich said. “We turned the ball over on the offensive end and not against their press. The past couple of years, we would have thrown the ball away 20 or 30 times against them. Tonight, I don’t think they got a single point off of a steal off of their press.

“The girls stepped up. They will learn from their mistakes.”

Brooke is scheduled to play Saturday at Harrison Central. The JV game is scheduled to start at noon.

“Coach Scherich has Brooke going in the right direction,” Melko said. “They had a freshman and a sophomore combine for 35 points tonight. They are much improved. Coming up here, we knew they were improved, and they are a little better than I thought. They are set up for success this year and down the line.”

The teams combined for 37 fouls — 15 of which came in the first quarter.

John Marshall 62, Brooke 50

John Marshall                   11  23  19    9  —  62

Brooke                              16  12  12  10  —  50

JOHN MARSHALL (2-1): Henderson 2 2-6 6, Derrow 2 7-10 11, Straughn 1 7-12 10, Graves 0 0-0 0, Blake 0 0-0 0, Frohnapfel 9 3-4 23, Voellinger 0 0-0 0, Blake 1 0-0 2, McMullen 1 1-4 4, Strait 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 19 20-36 62. 3-Pointers: Fronapfel 2, Straughn, McMullen.

BROOKE (2-1): Byers 0 0-2 0, Dodson 1 0-0 2, Elliott 0 0-0 0, Arca 4 4-8 12, Edgar 2 0-0 5, Velegol 3 1-2 8, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Fox 0 0-0 0, Bowman 9 5-6 23. TOTALS: 19 10-18 50. 3-Pointers: Edgar, Velegol.

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