If only the periods were scored individually, then Scarborough would have tied Sanford when the two girls basketball squads met Saturday. Or if scoring only counted in the second half, then the Red Storm would have won by four points.
Alas, every point was counted, including the 42 that the visiting Redskins piled up in the first half on their way to a 60-37 win.
“We came out strong as a team on both sides of the floor in the first half,” said Sanford guard Coleen Kumka, who had 16 points, including four three-pointers.
“They’re a quality club and they’re seven or eight deep,” Scarborough coach Jennifer Allen said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge. Our goal was to keep it in striking distance in the first half, but that didn’t work.”
The Redskins immediately went to their inside tandem, the six-foot-tall Kayla Parker and 5-11 Ruthie Briggs. They scored the first seven points of the game, but Jess Schoppee and Sarah Bonenfant had back-to-back hoops to get their team in the game.
Kumka then stepped up and hit a pair of threes in a two-minute span to extend Sanford’s lead, and after one quarter the hosts were down, 23-10.
The second period was more of the same. Sanford went back inside to Briggs and she hit for eight more points, and Kumka added six. At the same time the Red Storm offense sputtered, and at the half the score was 42-15.
After the break, however, it was a totally different game. The Redskins weren’t as successful getting the ball inside, while Scarborough looked like the more energized team.
“We did (get down early), but we stayed together as a team and that helped,” said Storm guard Libby Brackett. “We saw that we needed to step up, so we did what we could.”
Sanford was held to four points in the quarter, including just one basket from the field – a Kumka three-pointer with 2:30 on the clock.
Scarborough’s offense was not robust itself in the third, but in the last frame it was quite good, putting 15 points on the board, including seven from Brackett and four from Bonenfant.
The enormity of the early lead meant that the Red Storm had little chance of catching their opponents, but they kept battling and were the better squad for the final 16 minutes.
“As a team we just came out flat in the third quarter, and they came out strong and ready to play,” said Kumka. “They set us back on our heels.”
Allen was pleased with the way her team approached the second half.
“I think we showed that we can run with quality teams. I think we learned that we don’t fold at halftime,” the coach said. “We have a quality group of girls this year, and they’ll fight back and they’ll respond.”
Her players agreed.
“We’ve improved a lot and we’re close,” said Brackett. “We’re a good team, and it’s going to be a great season.”
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