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Franklin
Monroe's Allison Snider (12) and Arcanum freshman Rebecca Deao
(42)
go up for a rebound during action in the opening gmae of the Bill
Burkett at Tri-Village Friday.
The Jets cruised to a 60-37 victory over
the Lady Torjans. CNO photos by George Starks
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Jets fly high in Burkett opener
Trojan guns silenced
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- Before Franklin Monroe coach Gavin Bixler came out of the
dressing room, one thing was heard loud and clear.
“Defense Wins!”
That was the battle cry of the Lady Jets Friday night after they rolled
to a decisive 60-37 victory over Arcanum in the opening round of the
annual Bill Burkett Girls Basketball Tournament at Tri-Village.
It was a night when a relentless defense forced numerous Arcanum
turnovers as well as blocking several shots and Jets coach Gavin
Spitler acknowledged the defensive effort put forth by his team.
“The girls came out and played good, solid defense and that’s what
we’ve been talking about in practice, especially the first couple of
weeks,” Spitler pointed out. “Tonight was the first time we’ve been
able to put it all together as far as team defense goes. Today, I would
say we played three quarters of real good defense. Tonight, our defense
fueled our offense. We got a lot of points in transition and that’s
what we want to do and that’s what we did tonight for the first two and
a half quarters.”
With the score close at 7-5 in the first frame, the Jets kicked things
into high gear, out-scoring the Trojans 12-0 to end the opening quarter
with a 19-5 lead.
Of those 19 points, senior Claire Neiswander had netted 11 of her team
high 15 points as senior Haley Gray added a dozen in support by games
end.
“Claire is one of our key players,” admitted Spitler. “She is one of
our most versatile players and will usually be matched up with the best
player on the other team. She can play low and outside and that helps a
lot. She played a great game tonight.”
Even though Neiswander is only one person, the Jets defense did exactly
what it needed to do and that was to stop senior Morgan Buck and junior
Abby O’Donnell.
The Arcanum duo was held to a mere six points combined, all scored by
O’Donnell, while the Trojans netted 17 from Alexis Abner.
“We shut down a good Arcanum team tonight,” Spitler said. “We didn’t
allow them to get what they wanted to get. We took their offense away
from them and we have to stay consistent. Last year, we would have a
good game then a bad one. We can’t have that this season. We finished
8-13 last year and that’s unacceptable for us this year but it’s one
game at a time for us.”
After what Arcanum Coach Rachel Fearon had seen in her scrimmage, it
was a disappointing night for the second year coach.
“This wasn’t the same team I’ve seen in our scrimmages this year,”
Fearon stated. “We are a young team and you never know what team is
going to show up go; the consistency isn’t there and we need that. I am
disappointed but if there’s one thing about our team it’s that we are a
team and we will come back and have better games. This is a learning
experience and we will see FM later in the season.”
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Franklin
Monroe senior Claire Neiswander gets two of her team high 15 points
against Arcanum.
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