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Pulling away: North girls ride strong third quarter to win over Prosper
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
MCKINNEY -- On a strength of an impressive third quarter, the McKinney North girls basketball team routed Prosper, 55-27 Friday night.
"It was a good second half," said Michael Oldham, North head coach. "In the third quarter we got back to playing McKinney North basketball, which we hadn't been playing recently and by that I mean tough defense, getting out and running, and making our defense turn into our offense. I'm very excited about that."
It was North's third game in the Collin County Roundball Classic from Boyd High School. The No. 9 ranked Lady Bulldogs (9-3) lost their tournament opener against Frisco Liberty, 43-38. North, though, went on to win its next game against Lake Highlands, 51-42.
"You can always count on her showing up and giving her best," Oldham said. "When her shots are falling, she's going to get 18 every night. I was excited about that second half when she came out and turned it up."
Oldham also liked the performances he saw from junior forward Mikaehla Connor and Amy Kleynhans.
"Connor sparks us defensively," Oldham said. "She's done a really good job of handling the ball. Amy's contributed well for us a lot of times this year, too. She's moved to a new position. We had her at the post last year and now we got her out on the wing and she's done well. I want her to keep building on that success."
The Lady Eagles did their best to keep things close in the first quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs would have their way offensively, taking the 17-11 lead in the opening frame.
The second quarter would prove vexing for both offenses, as North would only score four points to Prosper's three, giving the Lady Bulldogs the 21-14 halftime lead.
"The last six, seven games we've been averaging 17 points a quarter, but then we get to the tournament and we're scoring six or seven," Oldham said. "We had a little heart to heart at halftime and that might have had something to do with the turnaround."
Things would go quite differently for North after the half. The Lady Bulldogs began to pull away in the third quarter, taking their first double-digit lead, 26-16. That would grow to a 19-point lead, 35-16, halfway through the quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs would lead by as many as 27 at the end of the third quarter, 46-19, as the rout was on. North had outscored Prosper 25-5 in the third quarter.
"Our defense sparked our offense," Oldham said. "We were getting steals right there in the paint and got easy baskets and that makes your three-point shots start falling once you get the easy ones. It was a combination of that."
North would lead by as many as 32 in the fourth quarter on the way to their ninth win of the season. While he was pleased with what he saw from his starting five, Oldham was just as satisfied with the strong play he's been getting from his bench.
"I've been real pleased with my reserves," he said. "Over the last four games they've done well. I'm talking about Ali Michalak, Viona Vraniqi, Kayla Shadden, Mikayla Foy and Lauren Foster. They've all been coming in and contributing over these last four games and they've been hitting their shots."
While the start to the game wasn't what he would have liked, Oldham knows good teams don't make excuses. Instead, they adapt to the situation and overcome their poor play, something he was glad to see from his team Friday night.
"Our problem was we just weren't executing," Oldham said. "We can talk about why we weren't executing, but we weren't, as far as dribbling, passing and shooting. We weren't getting those things done. I was glad to see us get back to playing McKinney North basketball for those last 16 minutes."
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