John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
FORt MADISON - Allowing just three points in a half?
“I’ll take it,” Holy Trinity girls basketball coach Tony Johnson said.
The Crusaders’ offense has been working well lately. Now the defense is doing its job as well.
The 53-18 win over Van Buren County at Shottenkirk Gymnasium was a complete effort for Holy Trinity (10-8 overall, 6-7 SEI Superconference South Division) with postseason looming.
This game was never close. Holy Trinity led 18-1 midway through the second quarter and was up 32-3 at halftime.
“What else can you ask for?” Johnson said. “Held them to three points in a half, 18 for the game.
Holy Trinity was coming off an 82-39 win at Wapello on Thursday night.
“I knew our defense would be better because they were very frustrated with themselves because of how we played defense at Wapello,” Johnson said. “Even though the game was out of hand, every timeout they were worried about the defense not looking good, even with what the score was.
“To me, we’ve turned a corner. We’ve played better the last couple of weeks. Even if we’ve lost a couple of games, they’ve been good games for us. And we’re playing well at the right time.”
The defensive momentum started with Tuesday’s 77-68 loss to Notre Dame, when the Crusaders put together a 21-2 run after being down by 25 points one minute into the fourth quarter. It’s carried over through the rest of the week.
“I think we’ve finally figured out who we are, and what we can do with each other,” Johnson said. “And I’ve figured out what we can do. Now we can go.”
Mary Kate Bendlage led Holy Trinity with 21 points, capping a week in which she scored 87 points in the three games. Teagan Snaadt, coming off a 28-point game against Wapello, had 14 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after tearing off a fingernail.
“We’ve found a good mixture of balance there,” Johnson said. “They’re yin and yang now, and that makes a difference. When you’ve got two dominant scorers, you’ve got to find shots for them, and I think we’re doing that. And everyone is blending in off that.”
Anna Bendlage had six points, as did Jenna DiPrima. Kayla Box had five.
Annabelle Cormier led Van Buren (4-13, 2-12) with eight points. Ivy Davison had six.
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