Greeley Girls Win Defense-Centered Game, 41-39, Over Fox Lane

When the Horace Greeley Quakers and the Fox Lane Foxes played Wednesday’s girls basketball game, neither team was able to break out beyond the upper single digits. When the Quakers won the close game, 41-39, it was a victory fought for in a game where defense kept scores down.

Foxes Head Coach Ayo Hart praised her team for facing a tough opponent in Greeley, despite the loss. To hold them to just 41 points “was a victory on our part,” she said.

Quakers Head Coach John Alkaly attributed the close win to a full-court press defense, with momentum shifting towards the fourth quarter. While Greeley trailed for good portions of the game – they were down 20-17 at the half – the strategy in the later part of the game focused on holding down Fox Lane’s Julia Raue, who scored eight points in the first half but was kept to just two in the second, with 10 for the game.

“She only had two in the second half, so I thought that that was a big momentum shift,” Alkaly said.

The strategy resulted in running out the shot clock and shutting down the players, he explained.

Hart does not feel that the full-court press was necessarily what won the game.

“You know, they played a little man even in the first half, so I’m not sure necessarily that it was their change that caused a difference,” she said, adding that her players still got shots. While she said that they played good defense, she attributed a high number of turnovers and, to a lesser extent, missed free throws as being contributing factors.

Leading scorers for Greeley were Jackie Brett and Yanna Jackson with 10 points, with Lindsay Hill and Andi Picker scoring eight. Issy Berkey hit a three-pointer, while Maura Grant got a field goal.

Raue and Allison Lombardi led the Foxes 10 points, while Kat Petrick scored seven. Jacqueline Colao had five, Cassie Obzud had four and Becca Frawley had three.