Carson City – Crystal at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 15, 2021 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen’s journey takes him to Mt. Pleasant. (How come I don’t get to call my travels an odyssey?? That would be so cool – – – ) Anyway, the Irish Girls Basketball team from Sacred Heart High will be playing the Eagles from Carson City-Crystal. (Hereafter, the Eagles will be known as CCC to save wear and tear on your aging Bleacher Denizen’s aging typing fingers.)

Even though it’s December and most people are in this mode,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15alGV17hKI

the Irish Girls and Eagle Girls are playing a big game in the Mid-State Activities Conference. I’m sure Jolly Old St. Nicholas will remember all the players fondly in about ten days!

Irish Coach Damon Brown gave me the following information about his players. Delaney Sculley is a four year senior starter runs the point. She is an excellent three point shooter, a fine passer, a dependable ball handler and plays tough defense on the perimeter. Maddie Munley patrols the middle for the Irish. She is another four year starter. She is a tough post defender and rebounder; she also scores well near the basket.

Anna Terwilliger is a versatile guard who slashes to the basket well and is a threat to hit the mid-range jumper. Emma Yonker is a competitive perimeter defender. Laura Goenner helps provide defense and rebounding in the post. Angel Brown is an active defender and rebounder in the post.

CCC Coach Tim Stout was also generous with his time and provided me the following information about his players. Kennedi Stout handles the point most of the time. She is an excellent shooter and ball handler who can score in bunches. Aubrey Hessbrook is a great scorer and shooter who is another threat to score in bunches from the guard position.

Paige Ewalt is a good scorer near the basket or from the three point line. She defends well in the post. Arija Adkins is a versatile defender who can cover opponents either on the perimeter or in the post. Ella Hagerman is a tough defender and rebounder in the post. When she is open, she is a threat from the three point line. Jenna Brown brings a lot of energy to the Eagle defense and to the fast break.

In the JV game, Sacred Heart got off to a 6-1 lead to start the game. CCC scored a couple baskets to trim the Irish lead to one point by the end of the quarter at 6-5. Sacred Heart outscored CCC 6-2 in the second quarter and had a 12-7 halftime lead. Sacred Heart outscored the Eagle JVs 23-4 in the second half. The final score was 35-11 in favor of Sacred Heart.

Karlee McCracken led the Eagle JVs with 4 points. Maricia TenHave added 3 points. Macy Meehan and Addison Bolen each tallied 2 points.

Sophie Hauck led the victorious Irish JVs with 11 points. Kate Liscomb and Ella McDonnell each contributed 8 points. Chelsea Lynch, Elle Ervin, Cecilia Lossio and Kallie Smith each added 2 points.

It is now time to look at this game through the aging lenses of the aging eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball back in medieval times. The Bleacher Denizen was simply never able to figure out that while turnovers and bakeries work on many levels, turnovers and basketball do not. I guess I frustrated a lot of coaches (although I suppose I delighted a lot of opponents!)

Sacred Heart wins the opening tap. Ella Hagerman knocks a Sacred Heart pass out of bounds to prevent a layup; the Irish get the ball back. Anna Terwilliger passes to Maddie Munley, who hits a layup to give the Irish the first two points of the game. Delaney Scully steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give Sacred Heart a 4-0 lead.

CCC misses a driving layup. Delaney Sculley passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Eagles get the ball. CCC is called for traveling with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting; it is probably not really newsworthy if someone travels without the ball, is it?) While the Bleacher Denizen muses about semantic issues, Kennedi Stout knocks the ball away from the Irish and Aubrey Hessbrook picks it up for the Eagles.

CCC misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Sacred Heart misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow consults the rule book and a panel of experts; it decides that CCC shall have the ball. Aubrey Hessbrook passes to Ella Hagerman, who hits a threeball from the corner to trim the Irish lead to 4-3.

Aubrey Hessbrook steals a Sacred Heart pass. Ella Hagerman passes to Kennedi Stout, who hits a three point shot from the wing to give the lead to CCC. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Aubrey Hessbrook passes to Ella Hagerman, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give CCC a 9-4 lead.

Sacred Heart is whistled for a traveling violation. CCC loses its inbound pass out of bounds. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen footer from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Irish get another opportunity. Sacred Heart misses a three pointer from the corner. Laura Goenner gets the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a layup. CCC misses a three pointer from the corner. Sacred Heart misses an eight foot shot in the lane. CCC misses an eight foot shot from the side. Paige Ewalt hits a putback to boost the CCC lead to 11-4.

Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Emma Yonker knocks the ball out of bounds; CCC gets the ball back. Laura Goenner draws a charging foul from the Eagles. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Emma Yonker hits a putback for the Irish. Maddie Munley steals the ball for the Irish. Delaney Scully hits a three point shot from the wing for Sacred Heart. CCC misses a three point attempt from the corner. Delaney Scully passes to Maddie Munley, who hits a layup for Sacred Heart to tie the game at 11-11.

CCC hits a layup that goes in after the foul, except that there was a foul with .3 seconds left in the quarter. CCC inbounds the ball and the buzzer sounds.

After one quarter, the game is tied at 11-11.

Sacred Heart inbounds the ball to begin the second quarter. Anna Terwilliger passes to Delaney Scully, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline to give her Irish a two point lead.

CCC is whistled for a traveling violation. Ella Hagerman steals an Irish pass. CCC misses an eight footer in the lane. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Eagles get another opportunity. CCC misses a driving layup. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot from the side. CCC misses another driving layup. Sacred Heart misses a ten foot shot in the lane; the rebound goes out of bounds and CCC takes possession. Aubrey Hessbrook is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Sacred Heart lead to 13-12 with 5:50 remaining in the first half.

Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the side; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Irish get the ball back. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. CCC misses a layup. Maddie Munley catches a pass too far under the backboard to shoot. She cleverly throws the ball off an Eagle player and the Irish get to inbound the ball and reset their offense. Sacred Heart misses a layup. Maddie Munley hits a putback to give the Irish a 15-12 lead.

CCC misses a layup. Jenna Brown gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. CCC is fouled, but misses the first shot in a one and one free throw opportunity. Paige Ewalt gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. CCC loses a pass out of bounds. Aubrey Hessbrook taps the ball away from Sacred Heart, but the Irish recover. Eliza Pieratt gets into the lane and hits an eight foot shot to give the Irish a 17-12 lead.

Maddie Munley steals the ball for Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot from the side. CCC misses a three point attempt from the wing. Scared Heart misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Kelsey McDonald gets the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a layup. CCC misses a three point shot from the side. Ella Hagerman gets the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Kennedi Stout drives and hits a layup to trim the Irish lead to 17-14.

Kennedi Stout gets her hand on an Irish pass into the lane and Ella Hagerman picks it up for the Eagles. Kennedi Stout drives the lane and passes to Paige Ewalt, who is fouled on a layup. Paige Ewalt hits one of the two free throws to shave the Sacred Heart lead to 17-15 with 2:06 remaining in the first half.

Paige Ewalt knocks the ball away from Sacred Heart and Aubrey Hessbrook grabs it for CCC. CCC is fouled, but misses the first shot of a one and one opportunity. Angel Brown passes to Laura Goenner, who hits a layup for the Irish. Kennedi Stout is fouled on a drive and hits two free throws to cut the Irish lead to 19-17 with 1:15 left on the first half clock.

Laura Goenner passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow decrees that Sacred Heart shall have the ball. Aubrey Hessbrook knocks the ball away from Sacred Heart and Kennedi Stout takes it for CCC. Kennedi Stout is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws for CCC with 23.7 seconds to go in the half. Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the wing at the buzzer.

Sacred Heart has a 19-18 halftime lead.

Kennedi Stout has 8 points for CCC at halftime and Ella Hagerman has 6.

For Sacred Heart, Delaney Sculley has 7 points and Maddie Munley has 6 points.

CCC inbounds the ball to start the third quarter. The Eagles misfire on a triple try from the wing. Sacred Heart launches a pass too high and it sails out of bounds. CCC misses a three pointer from the wing. Paige Ewalt knocks a pass away from Sacred Heart and Aubrey Hessbrook seizes the ball for CCC. CCC misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Aubrey Hessbrook knocks the rebound to an Eagle teammate. Kennedi Stout his a three point shot from the wing to give hear Eagles a 21-19 lead.

Sacred Heart loses a pass out of bounds. Emma Yonker knocks the ball out of bounds; CCC retains possession. CCC misses a three point shot from the corner. Arija Adkins gets the offensive rebound for CCC. CCC is assessed with an over and back violation. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Laura Goenner hits a putback for the Irish to tie the game. Aubrey Hessbrook passes to Kennedi Stout, who launches a threeball from the wing and hits it to give CCC a 24-21 lead.

Paige Ewalt gets her hand on the ball and a Sacred Heart dribbler loses it out of bounds. CCC misses a three point shot from the corner. Sacred Heart bounces a pass out of bounds. CCC misses a driving layup. Sacred Heart misses a three pointer from the wing. Aubrey Hessbrook drives and hits a layup for CCC. She is fouled on the play and sinks her free throw to boost CCC to a 27-21 lead with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Sacred Heart misses a three point shot from the wing. CCC commits a double dribble violation. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Jordan Spagna gets the offensive rebound for the Irish. Sacred Heart misses a six foot shot from the baseline. CCC misses a three pointer from the corner. Delaney Scully drives and dishes the ball to Anna Terwilliger, who hits a fifteen footer from the side to trim the CCC lead to 27-23.

Paige Ewalt passes the ball to Kennedi Stout, who channels her inner Steph Curry and hits her third threeball from the corner for CCC. Sacred Heart misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Kelsey McDonald and Anna Terwilliger apply a fierce double team to ensure that CCC is not able to get a shot off at the buzzer.

After three quarters, Carson City-Crystal has a 30-23 lead.

Sacred Heart inbounds the ball to get the fourth quarter underway. Jenna Brown knocks the ball away from Sacred Heart and Aubrey Hessbrook grabs it for CCC. CCC travels on a fast break. Aubrey Hessbrook knocks the ball away from the Irish and Jenna Brown picks it up for the Eagles. Laura Goenner knocks the ball out of bounds; CCC retains possession. CCC misses a three point shot from the side. Maddie Munley passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. With 7:04 remaining in the game, the CCC lead remains at 30-23.

Kennedi Stout passes to Paige Ewalt for a CCC layup. Aubrey Hessbrook knocks the ball away from Sacred Heart, but the Irish are able to recover. Delaney Scully hits a twelve footer off the dribble from the side for Sacred Heart. Aubrey Hessbrook drives and hits a layup for CCC. Sacred Heart throws a pass out of bounds. CCC misses a three point shot from the wing. Sacred Heart commits a traveling violation. CCC misses an eight footer off the dribble in the lane. Alexys Zeien passes to Anna Terwilliger, who hits an eight footer in the lane for the Irish. Kennedi Stout drives the lane and dishes to Paige Ewalt, who hits a layup to boost the CCC lead to 36-27.

Delaney Scully throws in a threeball from the wing to slash the CCC lead to six points. Anna Terwilliger and Delaney Scully perform a fierce double team that forces CCC to call timeout to prevent a turnover. Kelsey McDonald steals the ball for Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart misses a driving reverse layup and fouls on the rebound. Emma Yonker steals a CCC pass. Sacred Heart misses a layup. CCC is fouled and misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. Sacred Heart misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. CCC is fouled and misses the first shot of another one and one free throw opportunity. With 55 seconds remaining in the game, the CCC lead is at 36-30.

Eliza Pieratt reacts quickly to prevent a Sacred Heart over and back violation. After a Sacred Heart timeout, the IRish miss a jumper; Emma Yonker hits a putback to trim the CCC lead to four points. Kennedi Stout is fouled and hits the one of her two free throws in a one and one opportunity with 8.8 seconds remaining in the game. Sacred Heart misses a three pointer from the wing as time expires.

Carson City-Crystal wins the game by the score of 37-32.

Delaney Sculley led the Sacred Heart scoring with 12 points. Maddie Munley supported her with 6 points. Emma Yonker, Laura Goenner and Anna Terwilliger each added 4 points. Eliza Pieratt tallied 2 points.

Kennedi Stout had 18 points to lead the CCC scoring. Paige Ewalt scored 7 points. Aubrey Hessbrook and Ella Hagerman each added 6 points.