Champion uses pressure to ignite rally at Brookfield

January 26, 2017 at 12:08a.m.

Champion uses

pressure to ignite

rally at Brookfield

brookfield

It appeared as if it was going to be a frustrating evening for the Champion Golden Flashes.

The team had little to no rhythm offensively, wasn’t beating Brookfield’s full-court press, and turnovers were leading to costly baskets at the other end.

But in the end, it was Champion’s defense that led to a 51-45 come-from-behind victory over the Warriors on the road in a game featuring two of the area’s top teams.

Sophomore Abby White scored 20 points for the Golden Flashes (13-3, 7-1 AAC Blue) while freshman Allison Smith had 12, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.

Brookfield (12-4, 5-3 AAC Blue) was led by Bailey Drapola’s 15 points while Tori Sheehan had 11.

“We really needed this win for our seniors,” White said wiping away tears as teammates hugged her after the game.

Throughout most of the game it appeared Brookfield was cruising. The length down low of Drapola, Sheehan and Dana Sydlowski didn’t allow Champion to get into any sort of offensive rhythm if the Flashes were able to manage the Warrior full-court press.

“The gameplan was to make them take shots with length in their face,” Brookfield head coach Marc Morgan said. “They had 17 wide-open shots against us last time and we wanted to limit those.”

Limit those shots Brookfield did. The Warriors went on a 10-0 run in the first quarter and led 15-8 at the break and extended their lead to eight multiple times in the second quarter. Drapola had 10 points at halftime and Champion never got any closer than five before the intermission.

“We had a really bad first half,” Champion junior Megan Turner said. “Coach [Michael Cole] wanted us to limit our turnovers in the second half. We had 13 in the first half and we set a goal of 15 for the entire game.”

Trailing by six at the half and needing to jumpstart his offense, Cole decided to press himself, getting the Warriors out of their comfort zone they enjoyed in the first half.

“When we press our momentum swings,” Cole said. “We get a lot of steals and we get a lot of breaks. It allowed us to break through tonight.”

Down low Turner was stopping easy looks at the rim while White was electric on the perimeter, stealing multiple lazy passes. And on deflections, Smith would immediately sprint down the court and had three wide-open layups that came off turnovers while pressing.

“They gave us a press and we couldn’t convert anymore,” Morgan said. “Then they started leaking out and got some easy looks at the basket.”

Smith’s eight fourth-quarter points came in succession in the midst of a 12-0 run that sealed the game for the Golden Flahses. Champion’s defense was so smothering in the final quarter, the Warriors only managed five points.

The win puts Champion right up at the top of the AAC Blue Standings with Newton Falls, who each have one league loss. And the team is well aware of that fact.

“This was a really big game because we knew we needed it to still be in the running for the league,” Turner said. “Now we’ve got to prepare for LaBrae and Girard.”