Lady Cougars dominate in Birdcage

Todd Lancaster, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·2 min read

Jan. 21—The North Daviess Lady Cougars found the Birdcage to be a inviting place to play on Thursday, with a 70-19 win over a potential sectional opponent Washington Catholic.

The Cougars were able to dominate on the boards to help take a 40 point lead in the third and a defensive shut-out in the fourth.

"I thought we did a really good job tonight. When we put Meah Dalrymple on Mya Cline, things really changed. I though Delaney Zorman did a great job as well," said Joey Riggins. "I feel like things are coming together."

WC coach Karie Craney was also able to find positives in the game.

"Defensively we did some good things tonight. I thought Tara (Vertus) did a good job on the boards with nine," said coach Craney. "We were hurt by some missing players and injuries, but we are trying get ready for sectional right now."

The Cougars opened an 8-2 lead, getting baskets from Delaney Zorman, Gracelyn Byrer and Hadley Parisien, while Mya Cline had the lone Cardinal bucket. Zorman and Parisien added a pair of Cougar treys to make it 14-4, but a put back from Ella Grissom cut it to 14-6.

Cline added a triple, but Parisien added a basket in the final seconds to finish off the quarter with a 20-9 lead.

Zorman opened the second with a trey and Kelsey Riggins posted a basket, before Madi Lengacher also added a trey. WC did get a pair of free throws from Cline, but Zorman and Byrer had back-to-back buckets to move out to a 32-11 lead. Alex Cates added a pair of free throws for ND, while Madi Boyd hit a basket to make it 38-11. Dalrymple looked like she would have the final basket of the half, but Cline hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to cut it to 40-14.

The Cougars continued to own the offensive boards, as they took a 47-17 lead. Riggins, Lengacher, and Zorman all scored for ND, while Cline added a trey for the Cardinals. Riggins added the next two baskets and Zorman's basket made it 53-17 and engaged the IHSAA running clock rule. Cates and Dalrymple added baskets, while Boyd finished off the quarter with a 59-19 lead.

Casey Freed led off the fourth with a triple for ND, followed by Boyd and Freed again to make it 66-19. Cates added a bucket to give ND a 51-point lead to end the game at 70-19.

Zorman led all scorers with 17, while Parisien had 11 and Riggins had 10. In all ND put nine players in the scorebook. ND won the battle of the boards, 38-23. Mya Cline led WC with 15, while Tara Vertus and Ella Grissom also scored with two points each.

There was no JV game played.