Farmersville senior Gali Mathews (22) attempts to regain possession against a Leon defender on Nov. 25. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Farmersville girls basketball team hasn’t seen many opponents use a press defense this season, but when they have, they’ve typically broken it with relative ease.
Leon opened the Nov. 25 game with a full-court press. But unlike in their previous outings, the Lady Farmers struggled to handle the Lady Cougars’ pressure. Farmersville especially had difficulty with the initial wave of the press, leading to several outlet passes that landed in the hands of Leon defenders.
During a timeout less than two minutes into the game, head coach Sandra Hoge told her players to calm down, avoid forcing passes and run their offensive sets with confidence.
Hoge’s message resonated. Farmersville overcame an early 8-0 deficit and later held off a late Leon run to earn a 45-39 win at Farmersville Arena.
“They just kind of surprised us a little bit,” Hoge said. “We hadn’t seen a lot of press stuff recently. We have in the past couple of games, but not a lot. What we have seen, we’ve been able to break pretty easily. We just had to iron it out and figure it out. They just weren’t prepared for it.”
Farmersville also struggled early to contain Leon’s perimeter shooting. Averi Futrell knocked down two 3-pointers in a span of 57 seconds, the second giving the Lady Cougars an 8-0 lead with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
The Lady Farmers leaned on their defense to turn things around. Katelynn McRay came up with a steal and made a free throw after being fouled to put Farmersville on the board.
The turnovers continued to pile up for Leon.
Farmersville’s defensive pressure began to take its toll as the first quarter progressed. The Lady Farmers forced eight turnovers in the opening quarter and 20 overall. They also started to rebound more efficiently after Leon grabbed several offensive boards early.
That defensive surge fueled a 14-0 run that stretched from the middle of the first quarter until two minutes into the second.
A major reason for the turnaround came from the Lady Farmers switching to a box-and-one defense.
A layup by Alexia Hernandez gave Farmersville a 14-8 lead.
Hernandez, who finished with 18 points, provided a steadying presence — one the team missed during the first month of last season while she was sidelined with an injury.
“She’s doing a great job,” Hoge said. “She’s continually taken a lot on her shoulders and running the show out there. She’s a true point guard.”
Farmersville also benefited from strong two-way play by Gali Mathews during the extended run. Mathews used her long arms to deflect passes and finish around the rim. She grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for a layup to extend the lead to 19-11 with 4:30 left in the first half.
Mathews finished with 15 points.
“Game after game after game, she’s getting stronger and developing some post savvy down there,” Hoge said. “It’s benefitting us. Hopefully, it starts to open some outside stuff for us.”
Farmersville led 26-12 at halftime and later 40-25 after another Mathews layup with 4:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
But just when it appeared the Lady Farmers (5-2) were cruising, turnovers resurfaced. Leon used its defense to spark an exciting finish. The Lady Cougars pulled within 43-39, but two Hernandez free throws in the final seven seconds sealed the win for Farmersville.
One day earlier, Farmersville earned a 50-44 road win over Sulphur Springs.
McRay poured in 25 points to lead the Lady Farmers, followed by 10 from Hernandez.
0 Comments