Daviess County dominated the first half of their 42-30 home victory Thursday, holding Frederick Fraize scoreless through the first 14 minutes as the Lady Panthers built a 19-0 lead. The win snaps an eight-game losing streak for the DC.
Daviess County’s offense also struggled in the early going, but an extended defense caused issues for the Lady Aces and allowed the Lady Panthers to maintain control of the game.
“I like the intensity we brought on the defensive end early,” said DC head coach John Kirkpatrick. “When you hit those scoring droughts it’s easy to lay down on the defensive end, but we maintained our enthusiasm and continued to defend.”
A couple of buckets late in the opening period gave the Lady Panthers a 9-0 lead heading into the second quarter, and they extended their lead to 19-0 before Frederick Fraize finally knocked down a long jumper with 1:57 left in the half.
The Lady Aces hit a couple of 3-pointers — including one at the buzzer — but Daviess County took a 25-8 lead into halftime.
The Lady Panthers relied on the 3-pointer in the second half, with five of their six made shots coming from long range. Brooklyn Daugherty and Ella Payne each knocked down a pair in the third quarter, and Shea Mason added one in the fourth.
DC has proved dangerous from 3-point range all season, but Kirkpatrick said they look to get the ball inside first.
“We’ve emphasized getting paint touches before settling for 3s, and I think we made a conscious effort to do that tonight,” Kirkpatrick said.
The Lady Aces scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, though it wasn’t nearly enough to get within striking distance.
Daugherty finished with a game-high 14 points and made four 3s. Payne added 11 points and hit three treys. Other scoring came from Adylan Ayer (7), Emma Anderson (5), Mason (3) and Mewes (2).
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2019-20 basketball coverage is presented in part by Rhoads & Rhoads Attorneys at Law.
