John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
FORT MADISON - The first few games of the season provide plenty of lessons, and Holy Trinity’s girls basketball team learned on Tuesday night how to win games that become a jumbled mess.
The Crusaders’ 48-42 victory over Danville at Shottenkirk Gym was what coach Tony Johnson expected.
“They’re aggressive,” Johnson said of the Bears. “They’re always in your face, they never let you catch your breath or gather yourself.”
But the Crusaders (2-0 overall, 1-0 SEI Superconference South Division) showed composure in the final minutes as Danville (0-3, 0-1) cut Holy Trinity’s 12-point lead to three with 2:20 to play. The Crusaders, though, made enough plays to finish off the win, with Adalyn Kruse’s shot with eight seconds left finally sealing the win.
“It was a really sloppy game with a lot of turnovers,” said Holy Trinity senior Mary Kate Bendlage, who led the Crusaders with 27 points. “We probably missed 10 easy shots there in the second half, and that’s 20 points that could have helped us really pull away there. It’s our second game, though, so there are things we can fix.”
“We probably missed 25 shots within three feet of the basket,” Johnson said. “If we make half of those it’s different.”
Holy Trinity seemed to have the game under control when Teagan Snaadt hit a jumper with 3:45 left that put the Crusaders up 44-32. But Danville went on a 9-0 run with two 3-pointers from Macie Wagner and one from Alaina Gourley.
Bendlage got her last points of the night with a 15-foot jumper with 1:40 left that ended the Bears’ run. Danville had two chances to cut into the lead again, but could only make 1-of-4 free throws in the span of 13 seconds.
The Crusaders led 24-11 at halftime, then kept the pressure on the Bears behind Bendlage, who had 10 of Holy Trinity’s 12 third-quarter points.
Bendlage said Holy Trinity’s offense is more balanced this season with the return of senior Natalie Randolph, who had 19 points in Monday’s win at WACO and followed that with a nine-point game in this one.
“It just makes it easier with Natalie,” Bendlage said. “We’re really balanced, and that’s tough for teams to defend.”
All of Holy Trinity’s rotation was part of the volleyball team that finished second in the Class 1A state tournament. There was no break for the Crusaders, with the first day of girls basketball practice coming four days after the end of the volleyball season.
“A lot of teams had open gyms and conditioning, and we didn’t have that,” Bendlage said. “But I think that volleyball run really shows our athleticism, and it’s carrying over to the basketball court.”
“These kids know how to win,” Johnson said. “Everything they do is about winning, and they know how to finish. I thought they handled the pressure well tonight, and to get two wins to open the season is a good start.”
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