Efficiency on the inside and a big second quarter propelled the young Camp Verde High School girls basketball team to a 44-30 win over visiting Tonopah Valley High School on Dec. 16.
The Cowboys, who improved to 8-3 on the season, outscored the Phoenix 15-4 in the second quarter behind eight of senior forward Kayla Hackett’s 13 points, the majority of them second-chance points.
“Overall this was a very good win and the kids worked hard,” Camp Verde head coach Mark Showers said. “They executed well. We struggled a little bit down the stretch and allowed them to kind of get back into it but we held them off.”
Tonopah Valley came out of the gates quickly, scoring on the first possession and quickly opening a 6-2 lead. Camp Verde responded by scoring seven of the last nine points of the quarter to take 9-8 lead.
“I think we got a little ‘deer in the headlights’ in the first quarter but we settled down defensively,” Showers said.
The Cowboys’ inside presence flexed its muscle in the second quarter. Between Hackett, six-foot freshman Jacy Finley and senior Marisa Presmyk, they grabbed eight rebounds and scored 10 points while sophomore guard Hope Ontiveros poured in five to grow the lead to 24-12 at halftime.
Tonopah Valley shot two for 12 from the field.
“Defensively we controlled the boards and we controlled the inside on offense, our post players did a nice job inside on offense and defense,” Showers said.
Coming out of halftime, the Phoenix played man-to-man defense, which according to Showers, played perfectly into what his team wants to do offensively. The Cowboys took advantage, scoring a couple easy baskets at the outset of the quarter.
In the latter stages of the quarter Tonopah Valley switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense that put pressure on the Camp Verde ball handlers, forcing a number of turnovers. Freshman Amanda Lozanilla was called up from the junior varsity team to play as starting point guard in freshman Tanna Decker’s absence.
“We have to play smarter, see the court, see who’s open, because we have at least one open man,” Ontiveros said. “We have to make smart passes, better passes, stronger passes.”
Overall Showers, who starts three underclassmen, was proud of his young team’s effort and understands that mistakes are going to be made.
The fourth quarter saw the Cowboys score only one bucket from the field and shoot 11 free throws, sinking seven of them to keep Tonopah Valley at bay.
Hackett pointed out a solid team effort as the catalyst to the team’s victory, who is undefeated at home so far this season.
It was a physical game, with 15 fouls already having been called at the early stages of the second quarter, and 42 total.
The two teams met on Dec. 2 in the Phoenix Country Day Tournament, where Tonopah Valley came away with a 28-23 win.
“They’re a really rugged team,” Ontiveros said. “Every year we play Tonopah they come back even tougher; they show us they want the ball. Obviously we wanted the ball more. We matched up tonight, we got ourselves together and toughened up.”
“The key was we had to stay tough and not get mad because there were a few times we could get mad,” Hackett said.
Hackett led all scorers with 13, Ontiveros finished with 11 and Finley nine. Tonopah Valley senior guard Naomi Dalley led the Phoenix with 11.
The Cowboys next take the floor when they host the Yvonne Johnson Memorial tournament Thursday,
Dec. 29, and Friday, Dec. 30.
