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Bobby, Brenoel ignite Poland
By Greg Gulas
POLAND
One thing worried Poland High girls basketball coach Nick Blanch heading into the season opener against Girard.
Because the Indians had played twice, Blanch feared typical first-game jitters.
But when his Bulldogs raced to the early 16-2 advantage after just eight minutes of play on Thursday, those worries were gone.
Maura Bobby scored a game-high 19 points while Abby Brenoel added 15 markers to pace the Bulldogs over the Indians, 54-41.
“Maura and Abby are our senior captains and leaders and they did exactly what I wanted them to do tonight,” Blanch said. “Not only did I want them to lead us on the floor and play as hard as they could, but when they were out of the game I also needed them to be there for everyone else.
“We came out and played with plenty of energy and that was the big reason we got off to such a fast start,” Blanch said.
Bobby’s six points in the opening period fueled the Bulldogs to that 14-point cushion. When she combined with Rachael Robertson to score eight of their team’s 11 second-quarter points, Poland was able to build a 27-12 halftime advantage.
“We work really hard in practice so it didn’t surprise me that we got off to such a fast start,” Bobby said. “Getting a big lead, holding onto it and making them play catch-up were a big plus.
“I expected us to play well so for the first time out I’d say that we were satisfied with our play,” Bobby said.
Girard’s Miranda Boyle scored all eight of her points in the third quarter as the Indians outscored the Bulldogs 15-13 after the intermission to cut the Poland lead to 40-27.
A jumper by Bree Bishop at 2:59 of the final period cut the Poland lead to 48-37, but that was the closest they could get. Brenoel scored six of the Bulldogs’ final eight points to put the game out of reach.
“It’s probably too early to make this observation, but I felt like we had nice chemistry tonight,” Brenoel said. “Everyone knew their role and as a result we played well at both ends of the court.”
Girard (1-2) has split their first two road games, leaving coach Andy Saxon wondering might have been had they not fallen so far behind at the outset.
“We fell behind too fast and allowed too much penetration,” Saxon said. “We didn’t have much backside help but offensively, we know the shots will fall.
“The good thing is that all of those areas are correctable and we’ll get to work on those concerns immediately,” Saxon said.
For Blanch, staying in control of the game was a key.
“This team has worked really hard and just needed to get a game under their belts,” Blanch said. “They did some nice things defensively and we played our game; we didn’t let them dictate the tempo.
“We’ll need to handle the ball better in pressure situations, but in fairness to our girls they did an excellent job overall in all areas,” Blanch said.
Bishop led all rebounders with eight while Bobby and Abbie Frank each pulled down five caroms for the Bulldogs.
The Poland defense forced 21 Girard turnovers while each team connected on four buckets from beyond the arc with Poland’s Kelsey Malenic notching a game-high three.