GEORGETOWN – Coming off an impressive non-conference victory over the Ripley Lady Blue Jays, the Georgetown Lady G-Men hit the home court for the first time Tuesday night as they looked to pick up their second win of the season against the visiting Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Eagles
The Lady G-Men did just that, defeating the Lady Eagles at home, 46-32. Lady G-Men senior forward Rachel Gibbons scored a game high 15 points, and senior guard Bayley Johnson added 10 points as well.
The first quarter started a tad sluggish for both squads. Junior Taylor McKinney got the scoring started for the G-Men by hitting a turn-around jumper at the low block to give Georgetown an early 2-0 lead. They would build that margin to 5-0 before CHCA finally hit a bucket at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter. The Lady G-Men led 9-6 after the first.
The second quarter was much better for Georgetown on offense, but they kept up their suffocating defense as well. The squad outscored the Eagles 12-4 in the frame, with Gibbons accounting for six of those 12.
CHCA’s primary offensive strategy appeared to be driving the ball into the paint and tossing a wild shot at the backboard in hopes of drawing a foul, but it did not work. Georgetown as a team tallied just six fouls the first half, while CHCA was well over 12. Head coach Bernie Cropper said his team tries to play the game as clean as possible, noting they don’t always go for blocks when they have a chance.
“We try to be fundamentally sound,” Cropper said. “We don’t try to block shots, we try to wall up and be strong. We did a pretty good job of that.”
The Lady G-Men pulled away in the third quarter, going on a 7-0 run that lasted roughly two minutes midway through the frame. That run expanded Georgetown’s lead from 11 to 18, putting the Eagles away for good. Five different Lady G-Men scored at least two points in that quarter, in which Georgetown continued to attack the baseline with the same intensity the team did in the first half. Cropper said that while it is nice to be able to score from down low, the team also needs to have patience.
“We’ve got some kids that like to do that,” Cropper said. “Honestly, sometimes I think they do it a little too much. Sometimes we need to reverse the ball and be a bit more patient. We’ve got some kids who are pretty good on taking it when it’s there, but there are teams who will take it away from you eventually. You’ve got to reverse the ball and be a bit more patient.”
The Lady G-Men picked up 32 rebounds in the game, something that was not lost on Cropper.
“I thought we rebounded the ball pretty well,” Cropper said. “They got a few offensive stick-backs there late in the second half but I thought we did a pretty good job.”
McKinney led the team in rebounds, picking up 14 while adding nine points for Georgetown.
“Taylor had a good night,” Cropper said. “She’s worked hard in the off-season. She always plays hard, gives us great effort and when she can score inside that’s a big plus for us.”
While it is early in the season, it’s never too early to pick up a victory. Even victorious, however, Cropper notes there are still some things his team has to work on.
“Anytime you win, it’s a good night,” Cropper said. “It’s early, there are a lot of things that we still need to improve on but we made enough plays to get the job done. It was a good win. They did some things offensively we need to work on defending. They made some hard cuts to the rim and penetrated. We’ll learn from that. It’s a good experience for us, and we got the win.”
The team returns to the home hardwood Monday, November 30 with a Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference match-up against the Bethel Lady Tigers, who knocked off Little Miami last week. Cropper and the Lady G-Men ended Bethel’s postseason run last year, defeating the Lady Tigers 61-59 at Wilmington High School.
“They’re very talented,” Cropper said. “We open up the SBC National division with a big game and we’re looking forward to it.”
