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JERSEY - Civic Memorial scored half of its points unguarded Tuesday night, beating Jersey in a foul-filled game at Jersey Community High School. CM was 31 of 42 from the free-throw line in a 62-39 victory which improved the Eagles to 13-0 on the season.
“I thought they called it a bit tight,” said CM post player Anna Hall, who lead all scorers with 28 points, including 10 from the foul line. “But it was a physical game. Jersey is a good team and they’re going to be around for awhile. When they call the game close, you have to adjust and I thought we did a good job of that.”
The teams were tied at 14 after one period. But led by Hall’s inside shooting, the Eagles opened up a double digit lead, outscoring Jersey 17-4 in the second quarter. Hall had 13 at the break.
“Coach kept telling us that they couldn’t stop us inside,” Hall said. “We did a good job of taking advantage of that.”
“I wasn’t surprised by Hall's performance,” CM coach Jonathan Denney said. “I thought we could score if we could get the ball inside.”
Meanwhile, Jersey’s key scorer, Clare Breden, was held off the scoreboard until the final period. She finished with 7 points. Breden picked up two fouls in the first half and had to sit much of the second quarter.
“I think our player of the game was Kourtland Tyus,” Denney said. “I know you’re gonna think I’m crazy for saying that with Hall’s stats. But Tyus did an outstanding job defending Breden. To practically make her a nonfactor in this game, that’s pretty remarkable.
“Their record doesn’t necessarily indicate it, but Jersey is a good team,” Denney said. “They’ve played some tough teams early. Anytime CM plays Jersey it’s a battle.”
Jersey head coach Kevin Strebel said a really good Civic Memorial team beat his Panthers.
“The CM girls got to the free-throw line a ton if you look at how scored in the second quarter,” he said. “I think that was the difference in the game, their ability to capitalize at the free-throw line. A really good team beat us tonight.”
Jersey made a bit of a comeback attempt to open the final quarter and reduced the lead to single digits, but CM responded and put the game away, shooting 13 of 16 from the foul line in the fourth period.
“The CM girls got to the free-throw line a ton if you look at how scored in the second quarter,” he said. “I think that was the difference in the game, their ability to capitalize at the free-throw line. A really good team beat us tonight.”
Jersey had its chances from the foul line too, but the Panthers shot only 5 of 17 from the line in the game that saw a total of 45 fouls and 59 free throws.
Abby Manns led the Panthers with eight points, while Brooke Tuttle and Lauren Brown each had seven. CM now stands at 13-0; the Panthers fall to 6-6 on the year.
Up next for CM is a Mississippi Valley Conference showdown with Highland Thursday night.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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