The Pilot News - Marian press stifles LaVille in season-opening loss

“We fell apart against that press,” said LaVille girls basketball head coach Kevin McCullough. “That was an Achilles heel for us last year. We’ve got to get better at it. You can look out there and see teams are going to play zone and press us when they can. Really what happened was we let down enough and got a little bit out of position in the second half on defense, and that’s what really let them be able to put the press on. We get a few more stops, that’s a few more times we don’t have to play against the press.”
After an aggressive brand of LaVille defense held Marian to 6 of 21 from the field in the first half Tuesday, the Knights hit the floor running after the break with a 7-0 run that knotted the score at 22-all. LaVille gave up eight of a woeful 16 total second-half turnovers against the Knights’ 2-2-1 zone press, and the visitors capitalized with eight third-quarter points off those turnovers. They took a one-point lead late in the quarter courtesy of a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Ashleigh Bousquet — who finished with a game-high 14 points for her team — but the Lancers held them off to retake a 29-28 advantage going into the final frame.
LaVille senior forward Erica Schmeltz looked particularly solid during the stretch with a pair of put-backs off two of her team-leading eight rebounds Tuesday, and sophomore forward Kaitlyn Kopetski capitalized on a couple shooting fouls, going 3 for 4 at the foul line to help the Lancers hold on.
The fourth quarter was all Marian, however.
Working largely off Bousquet’s penetration, the Knights exploited LaVille’s 2-3 help defense, kicking out to the wings and converting on 3-of-4 3-point attempts as the Lancers collapsed in. Facing its first real deficits of the game, LaVille’s offense began to force shots, and the result was a 1-of-8 shooting clip. Elaine Schmeltz hit LaVille’s lone bucket of the quarter, one of her two 3-pointers, and the sophomore shooting guard finished with team-high totals of eight points — along with Kopetski — and three steals, in addition to four caroms and an assist at the game.
“One thing we did worse was we didn’t recover, we gave up those 3s,” McCullough said of his team’s second-half defensive performance. “We gave up four 3s in the second half. I think because we stymied them they changed their style of attack a little bit. They said, ‘Hey, look for that player. These girls are helping; we’ve got to make them recover.’ Then what hurt, too, was after we let them into the house we call it, then that person over there starts helping a little sooner and then that person is open a little wider, and you have to go a little farther to recover.”
“The first half we were totally out of character offensively, but the second half we had better spacing,” said Marian head coach Pat Catanzarite. “Our guards were looking to penetrate a little more and kick the ball out, and that created open shots. We weren’t doing that in the first half, and I think that’s what made the difference.”
Of course having Bousquet available to run the offense through helped, too.
The Marian playmaker was whistled for two fouls early in the game Tuesday and had to ride the pine through most of the first half, taking just two shots before the break. In fact, the entire squad struggled with foul trouble in the opening two quarters as the Knights were called for 10 total first-half fouls. LaVille was already in the bonus with more than 2 1-2 minutes left to go in the first frame, and the resulting 5-of-11 free throw shooting helped give the Lancers a slight edge in the half.
Catanzarite said it also forced the Knights to play more cautiously on defense.
“The big thing was we knew we couldn’t get into early foul trouble, and we did,” he said. “Once we did get into a little foul trouble it pretty much changed our game plan all the way around. We told them at halftime to work their way back into the game. Once we stayed out of foul trouble we could play a little more aggressively, and we went to that 2-2-1, which caused quite a few problems for them.”
While the Lancers opened their 2008 season with a loss Tuesday, McCullough said he couldn’t fault their effort. Besides, LaVille’s skipper pointed out, there’s still a long season ahead of them.
“There are definite things we can look at the film and go out there and patch,” he said. “We’re not going to drop basketball tonight. We still have practice tomorrow. We still plan on having a good season, and, yes, we were coming out playing to win. I think the girls showed that in the first half.”
• MISHAWAKA MARIAN 42,
LAVILLE 32
At Lakeville
LAVILLE (32): Emily Fuller 0 3-7 3, Marci Gurtner 1 0-2 2, Elaine Schmeltz 3 0-1 8, Kaitlyn Kopetski 2 4-8 8, Erica Schmeltz 3 0-0 6, Hannah Amor 2 1-2 5. Totals: 11 8-20 32.
MARIAN (42): Alex Bousquet 4 1-2 11, Jillian Saros 2 0-4 4, Ashleigh Bousquet 5 3-6 14, Kathleen Kavanagh 3 2-2 9, Danielle Menting 1 0-0 2, Emily Peppers 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 6-14 42.
Score by quarters
MM 4 14 28 42
LV 8 22 29 32
3-point goals: LV 2 (Elaine Schmeltz 2), MM 4 (Alex Bousquet 2, Ashleigh Bousquet 1, Kavanagh 1). Total fouls (fouled out): LV 20 (None), MM 18 (Jillian Saros).
Records: Mishawaka Marian 1-0, LaVille 0-1.
J.V. score: Mishawaka Marian 35, LaVille 25.