Bowling Green uses solid defense, good passing in win over Ben’s Ford

Published 4:51 am Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Bowling Green’s Lady Buccaneers got out to a big lead while displaying solid passing and forcing turnovers in a 57-14 win over Ben’s Ford Christian School in a District 5AAA game held Monday at Ben’s Ford.

The Lady Bucs jumped out to a 19-0 lead.

Katelin Junkins opened the scoring with a field goal. McKinley Seal recorded a steal and hit the ensuing layup to make it 4-0 just 48 seconds in.

Junkins picked up an assist on a pass to Hollie Waskom before Seal connected with Waskom for two more and an 8-0 lead with 5:57 to go.

Cailee Fruge made it a 10-0 lead when she got inside for two.

Seal then made a steal and passed to Waskom for a layup before Fruge capped the run with a jumper from the baseline.

The advantage went to 16-0 when Shelby McDonald hit a jumper. Payton Stogner hit a shot, got fouled and hit the free throw for the 3-point play. It was 19-0 with 1:48 left in the first quarter.

Bowling Green finished the game with 17 assists on 23 made shots, as 10 players had at least one assist and 13 players tallied at least one point.

“Chemistry is a big thing, but when you’ve played together since fourth grade like a lot of these girls have, those things are going to be together all the time,” Bowling Green coach Barry Seal said. “That’s a joy that I get to experience.”

Ben’s Ford ended the run and got on the board when Allison Forbes hit a pair of free throws with 1:15 on the clock.

The Lady Buccaneers led 25-2 after one quarter, and began the second quarter by scoring the first eight points.

Waskom found Sydney Watson for two before Junkins hit a 3-pointer and Seal hit the putback after pulling down an offensive rebound.

Alaina McClelland ended the run by draining a 3-pointer.

It was 33-5 with 4:16 left in the first half and 41-7 at the halftime break.

Bowling Green had a 50-11 lead through three quarters, before going on to the 57-14 win.

“We made some mental errors and that happens sometimes when you play a good team,” Ben’s Ford coach Mark McGehee said. “That’s probably the district and the state champion we played. We’ve just got to keep working to get better.”

The Lady Buccaneers had balanced scoring, led by Stogner, who scored 10 points. Stogner hit all three of her shot attempts, four of her seven free throws and dished out an assist.

Waskom posted eight points on 4-of-8 from the floor. She also had a rebound, two assists and three steals.

Junkins and Callie Seal put up had seven points each. Junkins was successful on 3-of-6 field goals to go with a rebound and a pair of steals. Seal hit 2-of-3 from the floor and the free-throw line and had a steal.

Fruge finished with six points on 3-of-4 from the floor to go with an assist.

McDonald hit both of her shots, including a 3-pointer, for her five points. She also posted a rebound and an assist.

Watson had three points on a 3-pointer, along with two rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Anna Beninato, Jadyn Jenkins, Hallie Robertson and McKinley Seal all finished with two points. Beninato dished out an assist and made a steal. Jenkins grabbed two rebounds and finished with two assists. Robertson recorded a rebound and a steal. Seal had three rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Allie McCain added a point for the Lady Bucs.

Bowling Green hit 57.5 percent of its shots (23-for-40).

Forbes led the Lady Eagles with seven points, five rebounds and two steals. McClelland added three points.

Addison Seal recorded two points and a rebound. Kayleigh Wheat finished with two points, two rebounds and a steal.

Celeste Crowe posted three rebounds and an assist while Valerie Page and Gabbie Atkins had a rebound each and Kristen Keaton added a steal.