MCDERMITT - There is always an unknown when a team puts three freshmen on the floor in the opening game of the season.
The McDermitt High School girls basketball team did that Friday night and passed its first test with flying colors in a 56-36 win over Jordan Valley, Ore.
"My freshmen stepped up and played well, and I thought all my girls did a good job," said MHS head coach Jaimi Wilkinson. "It took us a little while to get adjusted to the physicality of the game. Jordan Valley was small but didn't play small. We ran our high-low offense well at the start and then lost our way later in the game. It's just going to take time for us to relax and learn the game."
It took the Lady Bulldogs a while to get going with the Mustangs leading 6-5. After that point, McDermitt got out of its matchup zone on defense and moved to a 2-1-2 defense, and Jordan Valley struggled on offense from that point on.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the last nine points of the first quarter, seven of those by Sharon Sherburn and Staheli Wilkinson, to lead 14-6. Back-to-back baskets by freshmen Lydia Northrup and Andrea Smart capped off a 13-0 run that gave McDermitt an 18-6 advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs maintained the double figure lead throughout the second period on the strength of buckets by Wilkinson and Smart.
After scoring just 12 points in the first 16 minutes of play, Jordan Valley found its shooting touch in the third quarter with 14 points. However, the Mustangs were still unable to cut the margin to less than 10 points as the Lady Bulldogs seemingly had an answer for every shot Jordan Valley made. Sherburn made two baskets late in the third quarter, giving McDermitt a 38-22 lead. Jordan Valley scored the final four points of the quarter to trail by 12 points, but would not get any closer.
The Lady Bulldogs scored seven of the first 10 points of the fourth quarter and never looked back.
"We are going to do as well as our seniors do and they really played well tonight," Wilkinson said. "Sharon got a little frustrated out there. She hasn't had two people on her in a long time. When teams usually front and back her, they come with bigger size. She had to adjust to their play. Jordan Valley was pushing her around a little bit, but she got through it. It was good for her and she is going to see that quite a bit this year."
A majority of the final eight minutes was played at the free throw line in the rough affair. The two schools were whistled for 41 fouls, including 25 by McDermitt. The Lady Bulldogs shot 22 free throws and the Mustangs 19. Four of McDermitt's players had four fouls, with Northrup fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Wilkinson led all scorers with 17 points, while teammates Sherburn and Smart added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Deandra Dave added six points, Cheyenne Urban four and Northrup two. Va Draunidalo did not score but drew praise from the coach with her defensive play and rebounding.
"Va loves to play defense and is a rebounding machine," said the coach. "She is still learning and we will keep teaching her. Andrea is definitely the best freshman I have had in the gym. She made some shots that we needed."
McDermitt is off until Tuesday, Dec. 11, when it makes the return trip to Oregon to play Jordan Valley at 3:30 p.m.
"We have a lot to learn," Wilkinson said. "We have to run a few more offenses and we never ran an out of bounds play. We have some time to fix some things and we need to get in better shape. It was a good way to start the season. It was fun to start at home and we usually don't do that. I am encouraged with what I saw."
[[In-content Ad]]
