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RUDDER GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM USES HOT START TO PUT AWAY MAGNOLIA 72-52

Rudder girls basketball team uses hot start to put away Magnolia 72-52

ROBERT CESSNA

The Eagle | 1/17/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Rudder High School Athletics

The Rudder girls basketball team ended the first half of District 19-5A play with a flourish.

The Lady Rangers raced to a 22-point halftime lead over the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs en route to 72-52 victory Friday at The Armory.

Rudder (24-3, 6-1) used a 9-0 run to take control early. Junior forward Keaundra Kelly drained a pair of high-arching 3-pointers sandwiched around a three-point play by senior post Deondra Young for a 14-5 lead less than three minutes into the game.

The unranked Lady Rangers, coming off an upset of 15th-ranked College Station (20-7, 5-2), didn’t let up as they cruised to a 51-29 halftime lead on the strength of forcing 16 turnovers.

“That’s one of the things we kind of do,” Rudder coach John Shelton said. “Teams play with us in the first quarter, but our plan is to press them the whole game and play [tight man-to-man defense].”

Magnolia took its only lead when Gabrielle Huetter hit a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the game. Rudder scored its first two buckets off turnovers and the trend continued. Magnolia coach Erika Ritter pleaded with her team to slow the pace, but it couldn’t.

“Come on, we practiced that yesterday,” said told her team after one of her guards traveled.

Magnolia was effective when it could control the basketball, hitting five of its first 11 shots, but it still trailed 24-11 because of eight turnovers. Rudder, meanwhile, hit 10 of its first 16 shots, including Kelly hitting her first three 3-pointers. The 6-foot-2 Young, who has signed with Sam Houston State, had only eight points and five rebounds overall, but she still made a big difference.

“It’s real good that as much as we press we have DeDe at the back of the press because that’s almost liking having two players back there,” Shelton said.

Rudder, despite backing off its press in the second half, ended up forcing 30 turnovers for 30 points.

Junior point guard Tianna Mathis had a stellar all-around game with 16 points, eight rebounds and several steals and assists. Kelly added 14 points, hitting 5 of 8 field goals. Sophomore forward Asani McGee had 13 points on the strength of 5-of-10 shooting along with seven rebounds as Rudder had a 34-32 edge on the boards. Rudder hit 7 of 22 3-pointers with four different players connecting.

Magnolia had a few scrappy, hard-working players. Huetter ended with 17 points. Senior guard Audrey Andrews added 13 points, and senior forward Sophie Christiansen had a game-high 11 rebounds.

But Magnolia couldn’t handle Rudder’s press or depth. The most impressive thing about Rudder’s press in the first quarter was the Lady Rangers committing only three fouls.

We worked on it, and we got a lot of kids playing time and I was glad to do that,” Shelton said. “And now the second half starts. We just start over Tuesday.”

Little did Rudder know while it was taking care of business, it was for the outright league lead as Magnolia West (22-7, 5-2) beat College Station 66-65, creating a three-way tied for second with A&M Consolidated (18-8, 5-2).

Rudder will open the second half with a biggie as the Lady Rangers host Magnolia West on Tuesday. Rudder won the first meeting 70-61.

Rudder 72, Magnolia 52

(Numbers after names indicate field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, rebounds, fouls, points.)

MAGNOLIA (12-9, 2-5 in 19-5A) — Reina King 2-3 0-0 2 1 4, Luci Salerno 1-2 0-0 0 0 2, Gabrielle Huetter 5-13 6-6 4 2 17, Tate Perugini 0-2 0-0 0 1 0, Sydney Holland 0-1 2-2 2 3 2, Audrey Andrews 4-7 5-7 1 4 13, Claire McCusker 1-6 1-3 4 2 3, Brynn Botkin 4-7 0-5 5 3 8, Jamie Holder 0-1 0-0 3 0 0, Sophie Christiansen 1-10 1-2 11 2 3. TOTALS: 18-52 15-25 32 18 52.

RUDDER (24-3, 6-1) — Rakia Lee 3-6 1-1 2 5 7, Aliyah Johnson 0-3 1-2 2 1 1, Alexis Austin 0-2 0-0 2 1 0, Bryanna Turner 3-9 0-0 4 3 7, Asani McGee 5-10 3-6 7 1 13, Tianna Mathis 7-15 1-4 8 1 16, Cameron Richards 2-8 0-0 0 1 6, Keaundra Kelly 5-8 1-2 4 3 14, Deondra Young 3-6 2-5 5 3 8. TOTALS: 28-67 9-20 34 19 72.

Magnolia 15 14 15 8 — 52

Rudder 26 25 10 11 — 7... Click here to read full article

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