Journey Blevins leaps for a jump shot as two Bellefontaine defenders attempt to block her shot. Blevins led the team with 14 points during the Lady Cats’ 43-40 loss. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The North Union girls basketball team has been riding the roller coaster when it comes to its performance over the last five games.
The Lady Cats have a 2-3 record over that stretch and Wednesday’s 43-40 loss to Bellefontaine has put NU in a position for some self-discovery, according to head coach Bre Nauman.
“I don’t think we have taken steps back, but we are kind of on a plateau,” she said. “We have to figure out who we are as players and as a team.”
Nauman said the Lady Cats’ recent ups and downs have really put them in a position of instability when it comes to their game plan.
“I think we had a long stretch of games against some really tough non-league games,” Nauman said. “I would say that us going back and forth (wins-losses) is really hard to see what is working.
“One night it is working and the next night it isn’t,” she said. “We just have to go back to the drawing board.”
Wednesday’s contest reflected the Lady Cats’ lack of flow as they struggled to find a groove against the Lady Chieftains’ 2-3 zone defense in the opening seven minutes of the game.
Sydney Bacon picked up North Union’s solo point of that time frame on a free throw.
Bellefontaine worked the score to 10-1 before NU found offense.
Nauman said the zone defense is something NU is not accustomed to seeing.
“We haven’t seen a lot of 2-3 this year,” she said. “So we haven’t faced it too many times because we have a good shooting team.
“Not a lot of teams play us in a 2-3, but they scouted us well.”
Even with the tough defense, the Lady Cats picked up a bucket from a drive by Journey Blevins, who led the Lady Cats with 14 points.
Alyssa Guy tossed in a buzzer beating three to pull NU to within 10-6 at the end of the stanza.
Guy’s trifecta carried NU into the second quarter.
Madison Amstutz got in on the three-point action with a pair of treys, while post players Blevins and Gabby Zeigler added eight points to help North Union pull to within 22-20 by halftime.
Nauman said her team has been working hard on offense, but the slow starts have been hurting the Cats in the long run.
“We did work extremely hard to fight back into this game, which we have done the past two games,” she said. “Howevefr, we’ve got to come out strong so we don’t put ourselves in a hole.”
Bellefontaine made some defensive adjustments to open the second half .
That paid off as the Lady Cats again struggled to find their groove.
Despite the setback, Blevins worked down low and tallied a pair of buckets to keep the Lady Cats in the hunt.
Jordyn Hoffman added a late three keep NU within 30-27 at the end of the third period.
The Lady Cats made some offensive adjustments to start the fourth quarter and started working the high-low offense.
Post players Brycelyn Deickert, Zeigler and Bacon each contributed a bucket, while Blevins picked a pair of baskets.
Nauman said the adjustments worked, but they came too little, too late.
“They knew our penetration and our corner shooting,” she said. “They covered it well, so we had to regroup and make some adjustments to get the ball inside,” said Nauman.
Bellefontaine was able to hold off NU down the stretch with some conversions from the free throw line.
The Lady Cats (10-7) will host Indian Lake on Saturday.
Bellefontaine
Rader 6-2-14, Vigansky 6-0-14, Car. Shumaker 2-4-8, Cai. Shumaker 3-0-6, Gorham 0-1-1. Totals 17-7-43.
Three-point goals: Vigansky 1
North Union
Blevins 7-0-14, Ziegler 3-1-7, Amsutz 2-0-6, Bacon 1-1-3, Guy 1-0-3, Hoffman 1-0-3, Marvin 1-0-2, Deickert 1-0-2. Totals 17-2-40.
Three-point goals: Amstutz 2, Hoffman 1, Guy 1