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Brookfield snaps Girard winning streak
By Greg Gulas
GIRARD
The Girard High girls basketball team has 16 wins despite facing a multitude of opponents with a decided height advantage.
Brookfield, winners of 14 games heading into Saturday’s All-American Conference contest, used its height advantage to control the boards and limit Girard to very few second-chance opportunities.
By winning 47-41 over Girard, Brookfield moved into sole possession of second-place in the league’s Blue Tier. The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak by the Indians as they suffered just their second setback in 10 home games.
Destiny May poured in 15 points while McKenzie Drapola added 13 markers to pace Brookfield as the Warriors swept the season series.
On Dec. 10, May, Drapola and Autumn Kirila combined for 40 points to lead Brookfield to a 62-53 victory over the Indians.
“It was a little tougher for us this time around, but we recovered from our own mistakes early on, settled down and were then able to control the game late in the fourth quarter,” Drapola said. “We kept our composure when they tied the game midway through the third quarter.
“Controlling the boards was also big for us today.”
The Indians (16-3, 7-3) and Warriors (15-3, 8-2) were knotted at 8-apiece, but a bucket in the lane by Kirila and a lay-up at the buzzer by Drapola gave Brookfield a 12-8 margin heading to the second quarter.
“We feel like there’s a bulls-eye on our back each time we hit the floor,” May said.
A bucket by May at 4:06 of the second quarter gave Brookfield its largest lead at 22-13.
Five points by Girard’s Dakota Naples with under a minute to play helped the Indians pull to within 26-20 at intermission.
Naples scored seven of her 10 points in the second period.
“I thought that we rebounded really well today,” Brookfield head coach Shawn Hammond said, referring to his team’s 26-19 advantage. “We knew that it would be tough on the road and it was.
“We also knew it would take four quarters and while it wasn’t pretty, it hasn’t been pretty for us all year,” Hammond said. “Their pressure was excellent today.”
Two triples by Ciminero keyed an 8-2 run by the Indians after halftime for a 28-28 tie.
But Girard was unable to score the rest of the quarter. Buckets by Kirila and Drapola staked Brookfield to a 32-28 advantage.
A free throw by May with 4:11 remaining gave Brookfield a 40-32 lead, but a 3-pointer by Naples helped key a 9-3 run by the Indians as they pulled to within 43-41 with about two minutes remaining.
But those were Girard’s final points as Brookfield scored four more at the free throw line to seal a third consecutive victory and the sixth win in seven road outings.
“They were definitely bigger than us and our Achilles heel all year has been our offensive rebounding,” Girard head coach Andy Saxon said. “When you don’t get offensive rebounds, you don’t get many second chance opportunities.”