Red Knights put together their best performance to top Madonna
TORONTO -- The Toronto girls basketball team shut down Madonna.
The Red Knights built a double-digit advantage early in the second quarter and did not look back en route to a 54-12 victory via mercy rule Monday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
"That is the most complete game we have played all year," Toronto (4-10) head coach Rusty Hodgkiss said. "In the first half, we did a poor job of rebounding. We had to make a few adjustments, and then we decided to rebound too.
"Every night, we get contributions from our seniors -- Callie Anderson, Michelle Anderson and Ashton Thomas -- every night. As we have progressed throughout the year, we are getting contributions from the younger kids.
"Jayna Reeves, that is the most complete game she has played. Josey Dickinson is lightning in a bottle. She can run for days and not get tired. She always draws the worst defensive assignment. She guarded 22 (Christany Bartley) all over the floor. Josey did a fantastic job on her."
The Blue Dons could not get anything going offensively as the visitors were held to single points in all four quarters.
"In life, there are a lot of things that occur that put a wall up in front of view that you are going to have to climb over, and as coaches, we are going to have to figure out some way to help them get over the wall," Madonna (4-8) head coach Cory Wingett said. "The last two games, we definitely have not shown what we are capable of. We are going to get better. We are going to continue to work hard every day.
"We have to realize we are better than this, and that we can have success. We have talent on this team.
"I don't care about wins and losses. The most important thing right now is not basketball. We have to be able to overcome this adversity. We want to finish strong. We want to get better.
"This is not about basketball; this is about life. As coaches, we have to figure out some way to help them get over this hump. We are going to figure out. We are not going to give up.
"This is a lesson in life. We just have to figure it out. We are going to do whatever it takes to figure it out."
The hosts led 12-3 at the end of the first before extending their advantage to 28-5 at halftime. The hosts led 48-12 entering the fourth.
"They struggled to shoot tonight," Hodgkiss said. "They have the ability to shoot the ball, so that was the reason why we decided to play man. We were afraid of their shooters. They just had a poor shooting night tonight.
"If we had the same plan tonight as we did when we went over there the first time we played them, we thought we were going to be in trouble. They can shoot the ball well."
Ashton Thomas tallied a double-double to lead the way for the girls from Jefferson County. The senior standout netted a game-high 20 points, while also pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. Also, Michelle Anderson collected 14 points, while Reeves recorded eight.
Addy Welsh and Bartley each contributed five points to lead the way for the visitors from Hancock County.
Toronto outrebounded Madonna, 32-28. Mia Pietranton and Welsh each grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Blue Dons in that category.
The girls in blue committed 21 turnovers, while the girls in white committed nine.
Toronto defeated Madonna, 53-33, Nov. 30 on the road.
"We did a lot if stuff different tonight," Hodgkiss said. "Cory does a fantastic job, and we did not want to show him what we did the first time, or show them what they have seen on film. The second time you play a team is scary. You always want to try and change things up.
"We did a lot of different things. I'm not going to give stuff away to their future opponents, but we did a lot of things different. We knew they would be prepared for what we did the first time."
There was no JV game.
Both teams are scheduled to play varsity-only games Thursday night. Toronto is slated to play Newcomerstown at 6 p.m. at home, while Madonna will play Edison at 6:30 p.m. on the road.
Toronto 54, Madonna 12
Madonna 3 2 5 2 – 12
Toronto 12 16 20 6 – 54
MADONNA (4-8): Pietranton 0 0-0 0, Bartley 2 0-0 5, Sole 1 0-0 2, Birkhimer 0 0-2 0, Cody 0 0-0 0, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Szczerbinbski 0 0-0 0, Littleton 0 0-0 0, Welsh 2 1-5 5, Morris 0 0-0 0, Ohar 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 5 1-5 12.
TORONTO (4-10): Derrignton 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Clapham 1 0-4 2, Reeves 2 4-6 8, C. Anderson 0 0-0 0, M. Anderson 7 0-0 14, Rebich 0 0-0 0, Crago 0 0-0 0, Owings 1 0-0 2, Thomas 9 2-3 20, Dickinson 2 2-2 6. TOTALS: 24 8-15 54.
3-POINTERS: Madonna 1 (Bartley); Toronto (none). REBOUNDS: Madonna 28 (Welsh 7, Pietranton 7); Toronto 32 (Thomas 10). TURNOVERS: Madonna 21; Toronto 9.