Bulldogs FInd Groove Against Hornets

Back together again, the Saline varsity girls’ basketball team dropped its final game of 2011 to Chelsea, 42-27, Tuesday night at .

Both teams struggled to put points on the board early but Chelsea found its groove midway through the second quarter, while Saline’s offense stayed cold most of the night.

It was just a matter of finishing, said Saline head coach Jeff Waltz.

“We got the shots we wanted. We missed 18 shots from the paint in the first half. Sometimes it’s a simple game and if you don’t convert, you get down on yourself and you start to lose confidence and it just rolls downhill,” Waltz said. “We were never able to stop the downhill spiral.”

Saline fell to 2-3 this season.

Waltz was pleased with his team’s defense.

“We started in a zone and slowed them down,” said Waltz. “We gave up more points later when we changed things up to start the offense.”

Alli Cope led Saline with seven points, all of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Melissa Needham scored six points and Britten Clark added five points.  Captain Amanda Price (four points), Caitlin Ellis (three points) and Cera Smart (two points) also scored for Saline. Mackenzie Cole paced Chelsea with 12 points. Grace Martin added eight points.

Clark opened the scored 1:08 into the game with a nice drive up the baseline line for a layup. That 2-0 lead lasted for nearly four minutes until Grace Sauers tied it for Chelsea with a rainbow shot. The Bulldogs took the lead with a layup from Cole. Needham tied the game at four with a jump shot from near the arc with 44 seconds left in the quarter.

Chelsea came out with the full-court press to start the second and it paid dividends with a mid-court steal leading to an easy layup for Sauers 23 seconds into the quarter. The score remained 6-4 until Price sank one free throw 3:21 into the quarter. The Bulldogs opened a lead midway through the quarter. Cole and Sauer had back-to-back buckets to make it 10-5. After a missed free throw by Saline, Cole and Martin had back-to-back buckets to make it 14-6.

Ellis made one-of-two free throws for the Hornets late in the half, but Chelsea’s Katelyn Kingsley closed the half with a buzzer-beating shot to give the Bulldogs a 16-7 halftime advantage.

Saline couldn’t close the gap in the third quarter. Price scored all three Saline points in the first 3:23 of the quarter as Chelsea expanded the lead to 22-10.

Later in the quarter, Price sent Ellis in for a breakaway layup. Clark also made a free throw for Saline, who finished the quarter down 30-13.

The offense warmed up in the fourth with a jumpshot from Clark and a layup from Smart making it 30-17, but Chelsea continued to attack.

Down the stretch, Needham and Cope scored from the free throw line. Cope also sank two field goals in the final minutes.

The Hornets don’t play again until Jan. 5, when they visit Ida. It’s a break that Waltz thinks his team needs.

“Our girls have been through a lot. If there’s ever a team that just needs some time off, it is definitely us. In the third quarter tonight, you could see that, physically and emotionally, we were spent,” said Waltz.

The team has been coping with the death of Saline teacher and coach, Mike Price, who is father of the Hornets’ captain, Amanda. Tuesday night, the captain returned to the lineup.

“I am so proud of Amanda Price to come out and play, with all that she’s dealing with,” Waltz said. “She’s an amazing girl and I am proud to be her coach. I know her dad is proud of the way she did things tonight.”