By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The swarming defense of the Rosholt High School girls basketball team throttled the Almond-Bancroft girls team Friday, Jan. 4, as the Hornets posted a 48-20 victory in Almond.
The Hornets held the Eagles without a point for more than 12 minutes in the second half after the Eagles cut their deficit to 11 early in the third quarter.
"Almond has been playing very, very well," said Rosholt coach Greg Vosz, acknowledging surprise that Rosholt had handled the Eagles so easily. "They're a good team. I was very happy with our performance tonight."
Almond-Bancroft coach Roger Wittig had expected a tough game between the Eagles and Hornets. "Their defense is tough," he said. "Their defense takes you out of your game plan."
The Eagles' difficulties started early, and they didn't score until Darlene Turzinski put in her only two points of the night with 26 seconds left in the first quarter. By that time, Rosholt had already scored 14.
The Eagles added the final points of the quarter on a pair of free throws by Courtney Newby, making the score, 14-4, at the end of the first quarter. The Hornets spread the scoring around with Tasha Check, Tami Scott, Emily Steines and Aubrey Rice collecting the points.
At the start of the second quarter, Steines scored first, but the Eagles came back on a free throw by Heather Wittig and a basket by Beth Turner, making the score 16-7, the closest A-B would get for the rest of the night.
Actually, the second quarter was the best period of the night for the Eagles as they kept pace with the Hornets, who held a 25-12 halftime lead.
Two quick baskets by Wittig and one by Steines in the first minute of the third quarter left Rosholt ahead, 27-16, but then the Eagles went cold with seven minutes and seven seconds left in the quarter, missing shots or turning the ball over.
Using a deliberate offense and taking advantage of some fast-break baskets on turnovers, the Hornets took a 42-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.
With reserves playing much of the fourth quarter, Turner finally broke the scoring drought for the Eagles with two minutes and 49 seconds left in the game, putting the score at 46-18 in Rosholt's favor.
"Our defense is very aggressive," Vosz said. "The kids really love to play 'D.' They'd rather do that in practice than run the offense.
"Offensively, we were patient tonight. We're tall and we did a good job getting to the low post," he said.
Going into the game, Vosz expected the team to be a little timid after two weeks off for the holiday vacation but the players were the opposite. "They wanted to play," he said. "They couldn't wait to get out of the chute and play."
Wittig said he felt the Eagles looked lost on the court. "I thought we took a gigantic step backward."
Going into the game, the Eagles were 2-4 in the CWC Small and 3-6 overall, losing several close games. "We were in every game up to this point," Wittig said. "We looked intimidated."
Steines led both teams in scoring with 12 points, while Scott had 10, Amber Groshek eight and Check seven. Wittig led Almond-Bancroft with five and Turner and Christyn Johnson had four each.