Cam Lee of Marysville goes up for two of her team-high 14 points Friday evening. The Lady Monarchs beat Dublin Jerome, 49-36. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
A relentless defense and balanced scoring attack got the Marysville girls basketball team back on track Friday evening.
MHS quickly rebounded from Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss at River Valley with a 49-36 victory over Dublin Jerome.
“I was very pleased with our defensive effort,” said Lady Monarch coach Klarke Ransome. “It was better than it had been the past few games.”
Marysville’s stifling man-to-man pressure greatly reduced the Celtics’ opportunities to drive toward the basket.
MHS (5-1) harassed Jerome into a number of turnovers and put pressure on shooters that resulted in empty possessions.
The Lady Monarchs were pretty efficient on the other end of the court as well.
Cam Lee led three teammates in double-figure scoring with 14 points.
Leah Brown tallied 12 and Ava Krutowskis finished with 11.
JoJo Eberhart, who was a ball hawk on defense with numerous steals, finished one point away from joining the double-digit club with nine markers.
Ransome was particularly pleased with Lee’s offensive contribution.
“Cam played well and stayed the course tonight,” he said.
Krutowskis scored the first five points of the game, including a three-pointer.
Eberhart converted a steal into a bucket and Brown later buried a trifecta that stretched Marysville’s upper hand to 10-2.
The Celtics couldn’t get anything moving against MHS’ trapping defense.
Eberhart came up with another steal and flew coast-to-coast for the Lady Monarchs’ 12-2 advantage.
Jerome had to burn a couple of timeouts within the first four minutes of the game.
Those sideline summits didn’t do much good.
Lee drilled a three-ball with 1:07 left in the period as Marysville climbed to a 17-5 lead.
Brown swiped the ball and raced toward the basket as the clock nearly expired.
She was fouled at the horn and made one free throw for an 18-5 advantage.
Paige Wieklinski tallied back-to-back buckets for Jerome, pulling the visitors to within 20-9 in the second set.
One of those baskets came on the offensive boards, which eventually was a source of concern for Ransome.
“We have to rebound better than we did tonight,” he said. “I told the girls we don’t have any ‘bigs’ (post players) coming through our door, so we have to be tougher and more physical.
“Rebounding is all about effort.”
The coach was happy with the board work from Grace Groves during her minutes on the floor.
“Grace played tough and physical,” he said.
Alyssa Strahm fed Lee on a backdoor cut as MHS’ lead climbed to 22-9.
The Lady Monarchs continued their solid ball movement a few minutes later.
Eberhart rebounded a missed Celtic shot.
She dribbled down the floor before sending a pass to Strahm, who in turn flipped the ball to Lee for another three-ball.
Jerome finally reached double figures on a trifecta by Lauren Ludwig.
At that point, however, Marysville held a 25-12 lead.
Brown later assisted on a bucket by Krutowskis that set MHS into the turn with a 27-14 margin.
To their credit, the Celtics refused to fold.
Caridad Dupote-Fosnot hit a three-pointer and Lisa Kuhlman scored on a stickback.
Those buckets narrowed Jerome’s deficit to 28-19 within the first two minutes of the third quarter.
The Marysville lead was whittled to 28-21 before MHS’ Abri Schmutz came through with a shot from beyond the arc.
Both teams went through a stretch of empty possessions.
Brown, however, drove the lane twice for shots that enabled Marysville to take a 35-22 lead at the end of the period.
Lee made a strong baseline move to the basket and Krutowskis tallied a pair of baskets as the Lady Monarchs (who will host Dublin Coffman on Tuesday) jumped out to a 41-28 lead.
The Celtics could not reduce their deficit to less than double-digits the rest of the way.
Marysville
C. Lee 6-0-14, Brown 3-5-12, Krutowskis 5-0-11, Eberhart 4-1-9, Schumtz 1-0-3, G. Lee 0-0-0, Groves 0-0-0, Strahm 0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0. Totals 19-6-49.
Three-point goals: C. Lee 2, Brown 1, Krutowskis 1, Schmutz 1.
Dublin Jerome
Wieklinski 5-0-10, Conley 2-2-7, Kuhlman 3-0-6, Baker 2-0-5, Dupote-Fosnot 2-0-5, Ludwig 1-0-3, Schossel 0-0-0, Holscher 0-0-0, McKinney 0-0-0. Totals 15-2-36.
Three-point goals: Conley 1, Baker 1, Dupote-Fosnot 1, Ludwig 1.
Marysville’s jayvees improved to 6-0 with a 35-27 victory during the preliminary game.
Addy Tweed led the Junior Monarchs with 12 points.