Sports
Lady Marauders Bounce Back After “Alley,” Beat River Valley
By: David Butz
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Coming off their disappointing loss in “The Alley” Thursday night, the Lady Marauders (11-8, 4-3 TVC-Ohio) were determined to get off to a hot start this week against the Lady Raiders (4-14, 0-6).
Coming in, this might have appeared to be trap game for the Lady Marauders following an emotional loss at Alexander. However, this game wouldn’t last much longer than the first quarter, as the Marauders suffocating defense absolutely shut down River Valley’s offense.
This dominating defensive performance gave the Lady Marauders the much needed 56-25 win. On a relatively inefficient scoring night for the offense, backcourt steals and successful buckets in transition were a consistent source of offense for the maroon and gold.
Leading the way for Meigs was the talented duo of Kassidy Betzing and Mallory Hawley. Their effort translated to both the team’s offensive and defensive production. The duo combined for 25 points and an impressive nine steals.
Betzing was asked after the game about the energy the team puts into their playing defensively. “Defense is the key for us, especially when our shots aren’t falling,” Betzing said. “We work on it a lot in practice … so the defense is really big for us.”
Even though Betzing and Hawley performed well defensively, the bulk of the credit must go to the Lady Marauders team defense. Their defense allowed a scoring average of just 6.5 points per quarter, with the team looking engaged throughout the contest.
The game got out of hand after the second quarter 3-point shooting streak from Lady Marauders. But at the half, River Valley had nearly as many turnovers as points. Even with the Meigs’ starters on the bench, the Lady Raiders failed to manifest any sort of offensive identity.
Going forward, the Lady Raiders will need to get back to the drawing board offensively to develop some new strategy and establish their identity. The Lady Marauders on the other hand earned a much needed win coming off of the performance in “The Alley.” Meigs hopes to turn this momentum into a late season resurgence as they host Wellston on Thursday.