Bees spurt past Lancers to stay in first place in Seminole race

AMHERST — By dictating the tempo, pushing the ball upcourt and pressing on defense as much as possible, Brookville’s girls basketball team overcame its size disadvantage inside and pulled away from an upstart Amherst squad for a 56-37 road win on Thursday night.

"We definitely wanted to get it into the transition game because we knew they’re big in the post and it’s hard for them to get back on defense," said Bees guard Anitra Thomas, who led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Amherst coach Segar Jordan said Brookville (14-3, 9-0 Seminole District) dismantled the Lancers’ (10-7, 3-5) defense.

"They were able to capitalize on our game plan," he said. "We wanted to run an extended 2-3 zone to slow them down and make them put the ball on the block and take outside shots. But they were able to pick us apart with six, seven or eight passes and find the open player who hit the shot. They couldn’t miss from 15 feet and in."

Holly Middaugh scored 13 points, stretching the Bees’ lead to 32-13 with a 3-pointer from the right corner to start the second half, and Peyton Thompson added 10 points and nine rebounds to bolster the Bees attack, while Taneisha Graves (seven points) and BriAna Barksdale (six) complemented Thomas out of the backcourt.

In recent contests, the Lancers have been able to work an effective high post-low post combination between junior Alex Goldman (who’s 6-foot-3) and freshman Debra Ferguson (who’s 6-4) on offense.

But the Bees denied them the ball and held Goldman to 10 points and five rebounds and Ferguson to 9 points and four blocked shots.

"Their girls double- and tripled-teamed them," Jordan said. "We were not surprised by their defense."

He also wasn’t taken off guard by the Bees’ half-court trap.

"We knew they were going to pressure us and we still tried to dribble through the press," Jordan said, noting point guard Kami Marshall (seven points, seven assists) did an effective job eluding the trap. "We didn’t get beaten by the press, but we didn’t capitalize off of it either."

Despite being unbeaten in district play, the Bees knew they couldn’t take Amherst lightly on its home court.

"They’ve improved a ton," Brookville coach Warner Dyke said, noting the Lancers beat Rustburg and played Heritage to a one-point loss the last two games after falling at Brookville by seven in the teams’ first meeting. "Last year, we beat them easily both times and this year, it’s a battle. They’re right up there with the best teams in the district. Seger’s done a great job."

But Jordan and the Lancers weren’t satisfied with the loss.

"We needed this one badly to kind of solidify ourselves as a contender in the district," Jordan said. "Our shots weren’t falling our way and the ball wasn’t bouncing our way."

On Monday, the Bees get a chance to host Heritage on their senior night with first place in the district race on the line.

"Amherst has the height and size underneath and Heritage has the guards and the speed so it’s definitely going to be a different matchup," Thomas said. "[The Pioneers] definitely have speed and are able to shoot the 3 and drive and penetrate. We’ll have to stop their speed [and] play great help defense."