BAL girls basketball: Morrisville 59, Phil-Mont Christian 28 Morrisville keeps rolling
Morrisville beats Phil-Mont
The Morrisville High School girls basketball team beat Phil-Mont Christian Academy 59-28 on Wednesday afternoon. Here Morrisville's Michelle Evans and Phil-Mont's Carly Johnson make contact at mid court.
Posted: Thursday, February 2, 2012 4:45 am | Updated: 7:10 am, Thu Feb 2, 2012.
ERDENHEIM — Coaches like for defense to create offense and Morrisville’s opponents have been seeing that deadly formula in their sleep.
The Bulldogs operate a lethal zone press and pressure-cooker man-to-man halfcourt defense and often end up conducting layup drills out of both.
They forced 13 first-quarter turnovers from Phil-Mont Christian Academy and used them as a springboard to an easy 59-28 Bicentennial Athletic League Constitution Division girls basketball victory Wednesday afternoon.
Morrisville continues to run like a freight train, its winning streak now at 15 games, four away from tying the school record.
“We have been on the other side; it feels nice to be on the other end,” said Morrisville standout senior guard Kievanna Lacey.
An experienced, aggressive and skilled starting unit keeps maturing as a group while mowing down opponents. Morrisville (16-1 overall, 9-0 as the Constitution leader) gives up nothing easy while making offense difficult for just about everyone it plays.
And the Bulldogs go on long scoring runs that leave opponents well behind. After a bit of a slow start, trailing 9-8, the Bulldogs went on a 19-0 tear from midway through the first quarter through the middle of the second. They held a 33-11 lead at halftime and kept the hammer down.
“We come out a little bit sluggish in the first quarter sometimes, but we get it together by the middle of it,” senior guard/forward Cassandra Gainey said.
Gainey and senior shooting guard Michelle Evans each scored 16 to lead a balanced effort. Lacey had 13, and senior frontcourt players Katherine Brown and Casandra Martinez each contributed six.
Gainey, Evans and Lacey combined for 27 points in the first half as Morrisville did its usual damage defensively while turning it into efficient, quick-strike transition offense.
Martinez’s steal triggered a series of four consecutive fast breaks as the Bulldogs finished the first quarter strong to take a 17-9 lead while Phil-Mont (7-12, 3-5 BAL) turned the ball over on six of its last seven possessions.
“That’s pretty much the role for every game in the beginning — to come out and push, push, push, move the game up to our speed, and try to not let the other team score,” Gainey said.
Evans’ side-of-the-key jumper and Gainey’s steal/breakaway opened up the floodgates in the second quarter.
Morrisville coach Dave Howell’s only complaint was about his team’s tendency to get a bit stagnant offensively against Phil-Mont’s 2-3 zone defense. It’s something the Bulldogs are working on, knowing most teams will zone them, and if some teams can effectively deal with their press, it’s likely the Bulldogs will have to improve in their half-court offense.
“Our offense still gets stagnant against a zone,” Howell said. “Everybody zones us. We need to learn patience.
“They’re getting the concept of movement (against a zone), but we just don’t hold the ball for that extra second to get that good pass and get something better.”
But as he points out, Morrisville does a good job of sharing the ball, and the Bulldogs are lights-out when they are playing their game of choice — fast, with pressure defense leading to teams-don’t-know-what-hit-’em offense.
The Bulldogs operate a lethal zone press and pressure-cooker man-to-man halfcourt defense and often end up conducting layup drills out of both.
They forced 13 first-quarter turnovers from Phil-Mont Christian Academy and used them as a springboard to an easy 59-28 Bicentennial Athletic League Constitution Division girls basketball victory Wednesday afternoon.
Morrisville continues to run like a freight train, its winning streak now at 15 games, four away from tying the school record.
“We have been on the other side; it feels nice to be on the other end,” said Morrisville standout senior guard Kievanna Lacey.
An experienced, aggressive and skilled starting unit keeps maturing as a group while mowing down opponents. Morrisville (16-1 overall, 9-0 as the Constitution leader) gives up nothing easy while making offense difficult for just about everyone it plays.
And the Bulldogs go on long scoring runs that leave opponents well behind. After a bit of a slow start, trailing 9-8, the Bulldogs went on a 19-0 tear from midway through the first quarter through the middle of the second. They held a 33-11 lead at halftime and kept the hammer down.
“We come out a little bit sluggish in the first quarter sometimes, but we get it together by the middle of it,” senior guard/forward Cassandra Gainey said.
Gainey and senior shooting guard Michelle Evans each scored 16 to lead a balanced effort. Lacey had 13, and senior frontcourt players Katherine Brown and Casandra Martinez each contributed six.
Gainey, Evans and Lacey combined for 27 points in the first half as Morrisville did its usual damage defensively while turning it into efficient, quick-strike transition offense.
Martinez’s steal triggered a series of four consecutive fast breaks as the Bulldogs finished the first quarter strong to take a 17-9 lead while Phil-Mont (7-12, 3-5 BAL) turned the ball over on six of its last seven possessions.
“That’s pretty much the role for every game in the beginning — to come out and push, push, push, move the game up to our speed, and try to not let the other team score,” Gainey said.
Evans’ side-of-the-key jumper and Gainey’s steal/breakaway opened up the floodgates in the second quarter.
Morrisville coach Dave Howell’s only complaint was about his team’s tendency to get a bit stagnant offensively against Phil-Mont’s 2-3 zone defense. It’s something the Bulldogs are working on, knowing most teams will zone them, and if some teams can effectively deal with their press, it’s likely the Bulldogs will have to improve in their half-court offense.
“Our offense still gets stagnant against a zone,” Howell said. “Everybody zones us. We need to learn patience.
“They’re getting the concept of movement (against a zone), but we just don’t hold the ball for that extra second to get that good pass and get something better.”
But as he points out, Morrisville does a good job of sharing the ball, and the Bulldogs are lights-out when they are playing their game of choice — fast, with pressure defense leading to teams-don’t-know-what-hit-’em offense.
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Roll Dogs Roll!
Girls basketball notebook
Morrisville's Lacey deserves a look
Posted: Friday, February 3, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 6:31 am, Fri Feb 3, 2012.
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Kievanna Lacey’s numbers this season are impressive. Through last weekend, Morrisville’s athletic all-around guard was averaging 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 4.3 assists.
Morrisville’s gleaming record is the most important set of numbers to her — 16-1 overall, 9-0 in the Bicentennial Athletic League.
But the number of college basketball offers she’s received — zero — is one number that I don’t understand, and neither does Morrisville coach Dave Howell.
Lacey has exceptional quickness. She has the additional gifts of acceleration and anticipation, the latter evidenced by her ball larceny. She’s an improved ballhandler with either hand and doesn’t need much daylight to drive all the way to the basket. She’s a shutdown defender.
Howell, who has done a heck of a job bringing this team along the past two years, employs a zone full-court press and up-tempo offense that feature Lacey’s best skills. She’s developing more of a mid-range game, though frankly she hasn’t needed one while driving by everybody.
“She’s an open-court player that has a very explosive first step,” Howell said.
Lacey was the BAL player of the year as a junior and likely will be again this season. But there’s a sense that playing for a Class A school in an unheralded league works against Lacey’s college ball ambitions. If so, that’s a Division II or Division III coach’s loss.
She’s played well against bigger schools, too. She’s continued to improve and has a strong foundation of skills, athleticism and character from which to keep building in college.
“When a kid puts her heart and soul into playing the way Kievanna does, it is something to behold,” Howell said. “Every year that I have coached her, she has come back the following season with a new skill set to add to her repertoire.
“She has worked non-stop on her left hand ... But it’s her heart and desire that set her apart.”
Lacey, who scored her 1,000th high school point this past week, has been selected to play in the United Cerebral Palsy All-Star Labor Classic in April, where college coaches will see her. For now, they’re missing a good player who’s going to keep getting better.
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