By Brittany Llorente
Staff writer
MELBOURNE - The Sebastian River High School Lady Sharks trounced the Melbourne High School Bulldogs 65-47, at the Shark Tank gym, last Tuesday night.
The Sharks came onto the court with their feet on the gas pedal. The early points came from quick snaps and a high- pressure defense against the Bulldogs.
The Sharks' heavy netters, Miah Shephard, Georgia Tech-signed player Brittany Jackson and K.P. Pound, who has scored more than 1,000 in her career at Sebastian, needed to be blocked if the Bulldogs wanted to win this game.
"We played a great game and we shared the ball very well as a team," said Brittany. "Everyone played to their ability tonight."
At the end of the first quarter, the Sharks led 22-11.
The Bulldogs' freshman player, Abby Booth, was able to get through the Sharks defense, scoring 6 points in the first quarter and 10 points in the game.
"I feel like we could have done better," Abby said. "I tried to go as hard as I could. Playing good defense leads to a good offense."
Defensively, the Bulldogs stepped up in the second quarter. Unfortunately they made fouls on the Sharks, giving up 10 points in free throws. The Sharks only missed one free-throw attempt.
The Sharks used a lot of communication on the court, something the Bulldogs lacked. Where the Sharks looked like they could mind read their positioning, the Bulldogs would pass balls to a confused player or no one at all.
"We did a lot of good stuff defensively tonight," said Sharks Coach Terri Amy. "We got everyone to play tonight. Offensively we've got a very unselfish team and they like to give it up to their teammates."
At the end of the half, the Sharks had three fouls, the Bulldogs had nine.
After half-time it looked like the Bulldogs regrouped, coming onto the court with a quick play by Rebecca Campbell only to be answered by Pound.
The Sharks looked like they lost some of their momentum from the first half. Early on in the third quarter, they were having difficulty making shots and were slowed down by the Bulldogs defense.
The Sharks' momentum came back when Katie Taylor and Micaela Martinelli hit 3-pointers.
If the Bulldogs played the same way they did in the fourth quarter as the rest of the game, they might have won. They had scored 15 points before the buzzer sounded.
"We didn't play very well and we had a tough game last night against Titusville," said Bulldogs Coach Rob Aspey. "We wanted to keep KP behind us and Miah off the backboard. We wanted to hold them defensively and we were tired offensively.
"We've got to get back to fundamentals. Basketball isn't all that complicated. Sebastian is very good. If we're not at the top of our game, we can't play against them," he said.
The Sharks' Taylor had another 3-pointer with two more from Martinelli, sealing the game with an 18-point lead.