The No. 14 Kingsley-Pierson/River Valley girls basketball team started a new era of the program with a dominant 66-36 home win over Gehlen Catholic on Monday night.
The Panther defense came to play to start the season as they recorded 21 steals and blocked four shots in the win. K-P/RV head coach Nicole Goodwin says the Panthers were really strong playing a man-to-man defense.
That defense caused Gehlen Catholic some trouble forcing them into struggles to get into the half court. Gehlen Catholic head coach Brandon Schaecher says the girls tightened up and did not aggressively attack the press to force them out of it.
The Panther offense was able to get all kinds of players involved with 12 players scoring throughout the game. Coach Schaecher says the struggles had on offense bled over to the defensive side allowing the Panthers to take advantage.
K-P/RV had a good mix of inside success with four post players recording a combined 27 points and outside shooting courtesy of five made three-point field goals. Coach Goodwin says that just spreads a defense out allowing the Panthers to do many things.
Stop us if you heard this one before, but Sydney Doeschot led the Panthers in scoring with 25 points. The Panthers’ all-time single-season scoring leader after her freshman season went 9-19 from the field and added six rebounds and three steals. Coach Goodwin says her leadership has matured heading into her sophomore campaign.
Gehlen Catholic drops to 0-1 to start the year and continues things quickly with a road contest at sixth-ranked Westwood the next day. Coach Schaecher needs to see the girls loosen up before their next game.
The Panthers were not satisfied with their effort in the post on defense, and Coach Goodwin says that will be a big point of emphasis heading into the break.
The Panthers start the year 1-0 and will take on Lawton-Bronson after the Thanksgiving break.
