Improved ‘D’ leads to ‘W’ for Bangor
Bangor girls basketball coach Bill Bisci made a small tweak to his zone defense and it made a big difference in the Slaters’ 48-42 victory over host Wilson in a Colonial League tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday night.
Fifth-seeded Bangor (10-3) improved to 12-11 overall in its 14th league tournament and 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Fourth-seeded Wilson (7-4) dropped to 6-4 overall in its seventh tournament and 1-3 in quarterfinal games. The Slaters have won both league playoffs the teams have played. Here are some takeaways: Matchups matter: Bangor’s zone defense was ineffective in its final regular-season game against Notre Dame. This time the Slaters held Wilson to 4-for-24 shooting from the field while limiting the Warriors to 15 first-half points.
“We were trying to cover Brielle Reidinger the best we could,” Bisci said of Wilson’s junior scoring star who was held to seven of her gamehigh 18 points in the first half on 2-for-12 shooting.
“We started playing this type of defense less than a week ago. It’s more of a matchup than basic 2-3 zone. Brielle is one of the best players in the league right now, so we had to keep an eye on her, plus we shut down [No.] 23 [Makayla Days] from slashing to the basket, which we saw she did well on film.”
Slaters explode offensively in the first half: Bangor had it all going early as senior guard Madison Kluska, who led her team with 17 points while also dealing precise bounce passes to cutting teammates, opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers.
“We tried to push the ball and run our fast break the best we could and get easy layups,” Kluska said. “It’s good to have a start like that in a playoff game. It helps with momentum and confidence.”
Madeline Stout’s driving layup and Emma Toth’s basket off an Emily Ohland steal made it 10-1. After Wilson fought back to within 10-7, Emma Stout and McCormick Karner began a run that gave the Slaters their biggest lead of the game, 28-13, after Kluska’s inside basket.
New kids on the block: ”The five kids who started tonight did not start a playoff game last year,” Bisci said of Kluska, Ohland, Karner, Emma Stout and Brynn Holland. “So this was the first time they’ve been in a big game and they responded.”
Karner scored eight points and Toth also came off the bench for the second straight game with a sparkling performance, finishing with seven points. Ohland and Karner each had seven rebounds, Stout had six and Kluska finished with five assists.
“After coming off of the loss to Notre Dame [58-32)] we knew we had to jump out quick,” Karner said. “We know Wilson is a good team and the coaches have been preaching to continue our fast breaks like we did throughout the regular season.”
Wilson’s final comeback: Bangor was still up 33-19 as Wilson kept trying to get the deficit under double digits. A Makayla Grant 3-pointer and two free throws by Days got the Warriors within 42-36 midway through the fourth quarter and they had possession of the ball.
A bad out-of-bounds pass landed in Kluska’s lap and she took it three-quarters of the court for a layup. Kluska’s driving layup with 2 minutes, 36 seconds left gave Bangor its 10-point lead back.
Wilson again cut it to six, but two Kluska free throws with 1:36 left followed and the Warriors could only manage one more basket the rest of the game.
“Basically, there were two teams that showed up tonight, but only one was ready to play,” Wilson coach Sondrine Gutierrez said. “When we’re down we don’t play with that chip on our shoulder. We need to develop a sense of urgency, and right now we just don’t have that.”
Reidinger finished with a game-high 13 rebounds and added three steals.
What’s next: Bangor advanced to play Wednesday in the semifinals at top-seeded Northwestern (14-1), which beat Salisbury 52-24, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Thirdseed Palmerton (11-4) played at No. 2 Notre Dame (10-3), the defending league champ, in the other semifinal.
“Northwestern is a good team,” said Karner, a junior forward. “They only beat us by six points earlier in the season because we had about 25 turnovers that game. I think as long as we limit our turnovers we’ll have them.
“We just have to keep [Northwestern’s 5-foot-11 sophomore forward] Paige [Sevrain] from going lefthanded and the game’s ours. “
Wilson will play its next game in the District 11 playoffs.
“Usually we get sent an hour away,” Gutierrez said with a laugh. “Regardless of who we play we have to be ready to play, no matter what they throw at us. We just can’t show up with a uniform; anybody can do that. You have to be ready to play.”