Knights take defensive battle at Madonna
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WEIRTON -- If one was simply watching Monday's game between Toronto and Madonna without seeing the score, they may have thought the game was much closer than the score actually was based on the effort level of both teams from start to finish.
The Red Knights jumped out to an early lead and held a pretty comfortable margin pretty much the entire distance, but a physical defensive effort from the Blue Dons certainly made them earn every bit of their 38-18 victory inside the the Bill Barrett Gymnasium.
"It felt like it was a lot closer than it was," Toronto head coach Rusty Hodgkiss said. "I give Madonna a lot of credit. It was a very hard-fought game both ways. It was a physical game, I'm proud of the way our girls battled.
"I told them at halftime and after the game how proud of them I am for the way they conducted themselves in a very physical game. We shot it bad at times, there were times we could not buy a layup, but they kept playing hard and kept battling and didn't get frustrated.
"I thought defensively our young kids are really starting to get the idea of how we want to play defense and did a phenomenal job."
The Red Knights (2-5) opened 6-1 and 10-3 leads, ultimately leading 14-5 at the end of one. Toronto pushed the gap even further with a 6-0 spurt to start the second quarter, making it a 15-point lead, but then neither team connected for a bucket for more than four minutes of game action and each side battled hard on the defensive end.
"We came out really, really good right out of the gate," Hodgkiss said. "We were patient offensively. We ran the floor when we needed to run the floor, we slowed down when we needed to slow down. We really showed signs of progress.
"We will go a while without scoring, we've talked about that. I want to see us put a whole game together. We're still young, but we have some skill and we'll be alright. A lot of (the inconsistency) is them learning."
The Toronto lead was 22-6 at the halftime break, and remained that way nearly three minutes into the third quarter as the teams again picked up the defensive pressure and prevented each other from scoring.
Once Toronto got a bucket to drop, though, it started an 8-0 run to make the lead 24 and leave little doubt about the outcome.
However, one would not have been able to tell the deficit was as big as it was by watching Madonna (0-4), as the Dons continued to play physical defense.
"Defensively we've played pretty well all year, we're just struggling to find our offensive identity," Madonna head coach Corey Wingett said. "We're extremely proud of the girls for the effort (Monday). We gave a team effort better than we have all year, we had good communication and senior leadership.
"Would we like to have won? Absolutely, but we grew a lot tonight. The coaches will figure out how to get the offense going, it might take a few games but we'll get there. But, from an effort standpoint, that was the best we've seen so far."
The Dons did net six points in the closing two minutes of the third to trail 34-12 after three and actually out-scored Toronto in the fourth quarter, 6-4.
"They kept playing hard all the way through," Wingett said. "We don't like to lose, but if they give that kind of effort, I really don't care what the result it because it shows the kind of individuals they are. Fighting like that down 18 points really shows their character."
The Red Knights' Ashton Thomas led all scorers with 14 points, while Maryn Donnelly, Michelle Anderson and JJ Rebich each netted six points.
Madonna had a double-digit scorer with 10 from senior Shea McCoy.
UP NEXT
Toronto: Travels to Edison on Thursday.
Madonna: Is back at home to host Paden City tonight.
Toronto 38, Madonna 18
Toronto 14-8-12-4 – 38
Madonna 5-1-6-6 – 18
TORONTO (2-5): Rex 1 0-0 2; Chevalier 2 0-0 4; Donnelly 2 2-2 6; C. Anderson 0 0-0 0; M. Anderson 2 2-5 6; Rebich 2 2-6 6; Crago 0 0-0 0; Owings 0 0-0 0; Thomas 7 0-0 14; Timko 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16, 6-13; 38.
MADONNA (0-4): Long 2 0-0 4; Wingett 0 0-0 0; Littleton 0 0-0 0; Pietranton 0 0-0 0; Birkhimer 0 0-0 0; McCoy 4 2-6 10; Harbin 0 0-0 0; Sole 0 0-0 0; Cody 2 0-1 4. TOTALS 8, 2-7; 18.