As every team knows, winning the turnover battle can be half the war.
The Mingus Union High School girls basketball team easily won the turnover battle in its game against Sedona Red Rock High School, and the result of all those extra turnovers were layups that helped the Marauders to a 70-52 win over their cross-valley rivals.
The Marauders employed a full-court press defense most of the game which was mostly effective at creating turnovers, although the Scorpions were sometimes successful at getting behind it for some easy baskets.
“We talked about that we need to get back a little bit quicker and recognize that they’re behind us,” said Marauders assistant coach Dave Moncibaez. “But the press was effective. It just took us a while to get into the game but once we did, we started taking over and pulled away from them.”
For senior point guard Amber Rippy, the game held a little extra meaning because of the fact that she had transferred from Sedona to Mingus last year and was now playing against her former team for the first time. Rippy conducted the Marauders offense from her point guard position and was the Marauders’ high scorer in the game.
“She handled the ball very well, she broke the press and she made good decisions, and that’s what we expected out of her today with them being in a zone defense,” Moncibaez said.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 11, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
