The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Wellington defense shuts down Vermilion
Diermyer’s outside shooting makes life hard for Sailors
Wellington’s stifling defense shut down Vermilion’s offense, allowing just six points in the second half, as the Dukes came away with a convincing 47-22 win on Jan. 3.
On a day where neither side had school and had to come up focused and ready to go in the bitter cold, Wellington’s defense was the difference maker by forcing 14 second-half turnovers.
Vermilion made two field goals in the second half and was held without a basket for 13:50 of game time between the second and fourth quarters.
The Dukes were playing their first game since Dec. 20 and Wellington coach Nathan Morris said he was proud of the way the team handled the layoff and came out ready to go against a tough opponent in Vermilion.
“We came out a little sluggish tonight off the start, but our girls hung in there and hung in there and then we made our run,” Morris said. “Our length is a huge factor defensively for us and our girls did a nice job of covering up their shooters, then getting rebounds so they didn’t give up second-chance shots.”
Looking to turn the defense
into offense, the Sailors returned the same defensive intensity, but the Dukes stayed locked in. Creating her own chances, Hope Diermyer was the X-factor for Wellington.
Scoring 10 points while Vermilion was focused on shutting down the big combo of Alexis Lehmkuhl and Erin Frenk, Diermyer waited at the 3-point line for her offense as the senior sank a pair of 3s that opened the game up for Wellington.
“She was huge for us tonight and stepped up and hit a couple of 3s for us. She spreads things out,” Morris said. “People can’t just clog the lane with our bigs because she’s there.”
For Diermyer, finding her shot was the key as the Sailors just could not close on her in time.
“It’s always fun to try and do your own thing and get it in there,” Diermyer said. “We just try to look in and then out and keep switching it up and it worked at the end there, but at the start, it was a little rough.”
Despite the fact that Wellington missed school Jan. 3 due to the cold weather, Diermyer said the team didn’t feel out of rhythm with the change in the typical schedule.
“We’ve been working on our offense and I think we had like 10 or 12 days off between games so we’ve just been working hard at practice,” Diermyer said. “It just felt good to be out here and we were ready for this one.”