Claude starts slow, but finishes strong in 50-36 win over Groom
The first quarter of Tuesday's girls' basketball game between Groom and Claude couldn't have gotten off to a much slower start. The Lady Mustangs earned far more opportunities than the Lady Tigers, but the ball simply wasn't finding the bottom of the net.
As the old saying goes, though, it's not about how you start, it's how you finish.
Claude shook off a rough first half and first quarter in particular with an explosive third period. That was enough to separate itself and get the win over Groom, 50-36. Claude is now 12-9 overall and 2-0 in district while Groom is 10-12 with a 0-2 mark in District 2-1A.
To say the opening period was rough would be an understatement. The score entering the second was just 4-3 in favor of Claude as the Lady Mustangs went just 2-for-15 from the field. Groom didn't score any points until 1:53 were left in the first when the Lady Tigers made a free throw.
The second quarter saw the Lady Mustangs start to pick up steam. Maddox Scoggins keyed the turnaround with six points in the period, including a pair of layups underneath the basket on consecutive possessions. Groom answered with a three-pointer by Taylor Ritter, but Scoggins responded with a turnaround jumper to pace the effort. Groom got within 14-12 with 1:37 left until the midway point, but Claude closed the half on a 7-0 run.
With a 21-12 lead at halftime, Claude head coach Tori Williams knew what the team needed to talk about in the locker room at the break.
"We said the key to success was to be on the boards," she said. "Each game you have to talk about the dynamics of the ball. If the ball is bouncing, you have to have long rebounds...We talked about making sure our block outs were there so we could get those long rebounds. I felt like in the second quarter we started scoring from the inside to open our scoring from the outside and I think the girls did a good job at that."
A good job indeed. Claude outscored Groom 18-6 in the third quarter as Scoggins and Andi Holland continued to hit shots. The Lady Mustangs took a 39-18 advantage into the fourth and never looked back. Scoggins finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Holland scored 14 points.
Give the Lady Tigers credit, however. In spite of being outshot 15 attempts to five in the first quarter and struggling with turnovers, Groom continued to fight and kept it competitive in the first half. The Lady Tigers also refused to quit in the fourth quarter even after the game was out of hand.
Ritter led the way with 14 points.
"I was really proud of their fight," head coach Betsy Baughman said. "I think a few times we backed off of some offensive attacks that we should've done better at, but I was really proud of their defense the first half. The fight, the rebounding and all that. We didn't have a whole lot of legs the second half, so the third quarter really hurt us, but I felt liked we came back in the fourth quarter and really did a good job, and I was really proud of the kids for that."
Groom will play at White Deer on Friday at 6:30 p.m. while Claude will host Hedley at 6:15 p.m.
GROOM (10-12, 0-2)
Kaylynn Bennett 0-1, 1-2, 1; Ali Friemel 3-9, 2-4, 9; Lexi Ritter 0-3, 0-0, 0; Hope Hickey 1-1, 0-0, 2; Briana Ritter 2-6, 2-2, 7; Molly Babcock 1-2, 0-0, 2; Kaylynn Menz 0-2, 1-2, 1; Taylor Ritter 3-3, 7-10, 14. Totals 10-27, 13-20, 36.
CLAUDE (12-9, 2-0)
Layla Godfrey 1-10, 0-0, 2; Andi Holland 5-11, 2-7, 14; Ashlee Maddox 0-1, 0-0, 0; Alison Stone 0-0, 2-2, 2; Maddox Scoggins 8-10, 0-0, 17; Alexis Eddleman 2-6, 5-6, 8; Kodi DuBose 0-2, 0-0, 0; Bobbie Renee Fouquet 2-14, 2-2, 7. Totals 18-54, 11-17, 50
Halftime — Claude 21, Groom 12.
3-Point Goals — Groom 3 (Taylor Ritter, Briana Ritter, Ali Friemel), Claude 1 (Bobbie Renee Fouquet)
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Claude starts slow, but finishes strong in 50-36 win over Groom
