Trailing ELCO 15-12 after a lackluster first half, the Solanco girls basketball team was in desperate need of a spark. Senior Jenna Dombach delivered. Dombach scored 10 of her team's 12 third quarter points as the Mules took the lead for good on the way to a 34-28 triumph Wednesday, December 18. "My teammates helped a lot in encouraging me to keep shooting," said Dombach. "They wanted me to shoot so that built my confidence knowing that I needed to do that for my team."
Dombach opened the second half with two free throws, then made a basket to supply Solanco with its first lead of the game. After ELCO regained the advantage, Dombach drilled consecutive three-pointers to put the Mules in front 22-17 with 3:30 left in the third quarter. "I think we just came out in the second half ready to go," Dombach said. "We were a little slow offensively and just needed the quick start and we jumped on them right away." Solanco led 24-20 when freshman Arianna Seiberlich knocked down a three-pointer and added a layup to pad the margin to nine. After ELCO got back within five, Alana Yoder converted a three-point play with 2:51 remaining to essentially seal the deal. "We know our style this year," said McDowell. "We've got to keep teams in the 30s and 40s. To keep a team like ELCO in the 20s, that's awesome. I thought they did a great job. We challenged them at halftime. We said if we score 30, we'll win the game." Playing without starting guard Paige Phillips, who suffered a concussion the previous week, Solanco started slowly against ELCO. The visitors tallied the game's first six points before Nikki Trout drove left for a basket with 2:37 left in the first quarter. Sophomore Olivia Lasko followed with a jumper and added another basket early in the second quarter. "Olivia has played well the last two games," Solanco coach Chad McDowell said. "She's really doing a nice job on the boards and playing on the inside and attacking the basket. First quarter, she kept it close by hitting a couple of baskets. Then Arianna hit two big baskets in the fourth quarter, the three then the driving layup. They both play with a lot of confidence. They're playing well, and when you play well, you earn time on the court." Dombach is proud of the way the underclassmen continue to improve. "They've been stepping up huge and it's been awesome to see them grow," said Dombach. "As young ladies they haven't played varsity much so for them to step up like that has been huge for us, especially losing Paige. It's been great to see them step up to the plate." Down by three at the break, McDowell didn't resort to a raucous halftime speech or make any major changes. "We just made a slight adjustment to our zone defense," the coach said. "We went to a flat 3-2 instead of a pressing up 3-2, which was a challenge at first for my guards because the the last two years we've always pushed up and tried to trap. We flattened it because we knew they didn't have many shooters. We wanted to guard the post which is where they like to score." The Mules also attempted to work the ball inside early in the game. "We had some good looks in the first half. The shots just didn't fall," said McDowell. "Our post players have been working hard in the post. We were really trying to pound it into the post…We've changed our style because we're not necessarily a three-point shooting team like we have been in the past. When we needed a shot, Jenna stepped up. She struggled in the first half. I told her at halftime to keep shooting. Good shooters keep shooting and she kept shooting and hit some that really propelled us in the third quarter, gave us a spark." Solanco won the JV game 33-31 behind 11 points from Lasko and seven from Jenna Ehlers. ELCO prevailed in the Junior High varsity game 28-15. Comments are closed.
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