Defense was the name of the game as Camp Verde High School’s girls basketball team cruised to a 47-18 home victory against Chino Valley High School on Jan. 19.
The Cowboys [14-5, 4-1 2A Central] gave up just six points in the second half en route to the win.
“I told the kids after the game, ‘Wasn’t that fun?’” head coach Mark Showers said. “It’s a lot of fun playing hard on defense and getting results. It’s like anything; when you work hard and put forth the effort, it pays off.”
The team opened the game in a 1-3-1 full-court zone that produced turnovers and points, a defense that it had not run much before. It scored 11 of its 18 first-quarter points off of them.
Showers said that the team has been working on it to prepare for the future.
Back-to-back three pointers from freshman guards Tanna Decker and Amanda Lozanilla gave the Cowboys a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes.
Lozanilla later forced a steal and fed the ball to senior guard Raiven Alvey, who went coast-to-coast for a layup. The Cougars did not net their first basket until almost halfway through the quarter.
Offensively, the Cowboys shot eight for 15 in the quarter.
Showers went to the bench, and the team did not miss a beat.
“We did really good on defense,” Lozanilla said. “I think we have girls on the bench who know how to do defense.”
The offense slowed in the second quarter, scoring only nine points, but only allowed six, leading 27-16 at halftime. The Cowboys shot four for 14.
Defensively, they switched back to a regular man defense for the final three quarters of the game.
In the third quarter Camp Verde, who has won seven of its last eight, poured in 10 more points and allowed just two; a pair of free throws by Cougar senior forward Karen Madlock with 1:18 left.
Cowboys ballhandlers Decker and Lozanilla began to be more adventurous with the ball.
“Once they penetrated their zone, they could do whatever they wanted to do,” Showers said.
In the fourth, Lozanilla, who was called up to the varsity team earlier this season, scored seven of the Cowboys’ 10 points. She had a game-high 15 behind three buckets from downtown.
Decker and senior forward Kayla Hackett had 11 points each.
“It’s been a good experience, I’m glad I got moved up,” Lozanilla said. “I was nervous and excited at the same time because I didn’t know what they ran.”
Sophomore guard Hope Ontiveros, who injured her knee in the team’s loss to Sedona Red Rock High School on
Jan. 10, has an ACL injury and will undergo surgery in the coming weeks, Showers said.
The Cowboys hit the floor again against Mingus Mountain Academy on Friday, Jan. 20, to begin the second round of section play. They defeated the Lions 59-9 on Dec. 20.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, they faced off with Glendale Preparatory Academy, but results were unavailable at press time.
