MONTGOMERY — Class A No. 4 Barr-Reeve pressed Shakamak out of Kavanaugh Kourt in the opening quarter to defeat the Lakers, 69-49, Tuesday.
The Vikings’ pressure defense held Shakamak (1-5) to four points in the opening eight minutes and gave the Vikings plenty of chances to score 22 points.
“Two things I really enjoyed was coming out and establishing a fast pace to the game,” Barr-Reeve coach Mark Holt said. “Shakamak has shooters and some size, and if we had let them play a half-court game, they would not be easy to defend. I was happy with the start, and also the start of the third quarter.”
Points aplenty were available for nearly all in white jerseys, as Jenna Knepp and Tracy Graber scored six points each. Cori Cummings and Tiara Kenney shared 10 points in the first quarter.
“We’ve been blessed with a lot of good athletes,” Holt said of the traditional Barr-Reeve pressure early. We did a good job of keeping the tempo high and getting the bench in.”
The lead remained fairly consistent from there. Barr-Reeve led 41-21 at the half and 52-34 at the end of the third.
The Vikings had lots of balance with Graber leading with 19 points and Kenney scoring 17. Cummings ended with 12 and Knepp had 11.
“There were two ways our post players scored,” Holt said. “One was running down the floor full speed to make the conversion from defense to offense. Also great credit to our guards in the half court. They (Graber and Kenney) worked hard to create angles and our guards did a good job to find them at the right time.”
Shakamak center Kelsey Pilant took individual honors with 20 points. Megan Phipps added 14 for the only other Laker to reach double digits.
The Vikings were playing shorthanded with sophomore guard Hannah Bullock missing the game with back issues. The injury was a continuation from volleyball season.
While the length of time Bullock will be missed is not certain, it is anticipated she will miss some time.
“We were a bit short,” Holt said. “We’re not sure exactly on the time table. Obviously it will not be a situation where she will be back by next week. She’s going to take some time off, rest, and see how her back does.”
Holt is hoping the absence of his sophomore will lead to valuable playing time in her absence. He’s hoping the injury will bring a rainbow until her return.
“Hopefully we can get better without her,” Holt said. “When we get her back, we’ll hopefully be a better team with a stronger bench when she returns. She had back difficulties for quite some time, and it kind of reared its ugly head at the end of volleyball. Hannah’s situation just requires her to shut it down for a little while.”
While the Vikings and Lakers played nearly even after the pressure-filled opening quarter, the Lakers never really cut into the Barr-Reeve lead.
Holt took off the press after the initial damage had been done.
Barr-Reeve started both the third and four quarters with good surges that took away any thoughts of second-half comebacks, and outscored Shakamak, 19-17, in the second quarter as well.
“Sometimes a team will come out with a 20-point lead in the second half and struggle,” Holt said. “I thought we had very good possessions to start the second half with baskets on the first three possessions.”
Shakamak 4 17 13 15 Ñ 49
Barr-Reeve 22 19 11 11 Ñ 69
Shakamak (49) - Beck 1 0-00 0 2, Phipps 5 3-5 2 14, -Hudson 3 0-0 1 6, Fulford 2 2-2 0 7, Gallagher 0 0-2 3 0, Samm 0 0-0 0 0, Beck 0 0-0 0 0, Pilant 100 0-0 1 20, Kaho 00 0-0 0 0. Totals 21 5-7 7 49.
Barr-Reeve (69) - Pruett 0 0-0 0 00, Knepp 5 1-2 1 11, Miller 0 0-0 1 0, Cucmmings 5 0-0 3 12, Lengacher 2 0-0 0 6, Graber 9 0-1 1 19, Chestnut 1 2-2 0 4, Kenney 88 1-2 2 17, Courdret 0 0-0 1 0. Totals 30 5-7 8 69.
3-points goals: Shakamak 2 (Phipps 1, Fulford 1), Barr-Reeve 4 (CUmmings 2, Lengacher 2).
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