By Rick Teverbaugh, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
PENDLETON — If the New Castle Trojans girls basketball team wasn’t familiar with “Star Trek II’s” famous “no-win scenario,” they are now.
Pendleton Heights bombed the Trojans’ zone with six first-half 3-pointers. When New Castle switched to a man-to-man, the Arabians spread the floor and used their superior speed to increase the advantage.
In the end, the win for PH was 52-41 in the season opener for both teams.
“Their zone defense knocked us on our heels until we figured out what to do,” said Pendleton Heights coach Shari Doud. “To be honest, that’s one of the things we haven’t spent much time working on — our zone offense.”
So after eight difficult minutes, the home team had only an 11-7 lead. The only reason PH had that lead was a late 3-pointer off the bench by sophomore guard Jamie Hubble.
“Thank goodness for Hubble coming in and knocking down those deep 3s,” Doud said. Hubble hit another trey in the second period and one more in the third on her way to a 13-point outing.
The Arabians were up 29-18 at intermission.
New Castle went to one-on-one to open the third quarter. Pendleton Heights spread the floor and used the quickness and ball handling of first Mur Hagerman and then Hannah Douglas to slice up the visitors’ adjustment.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Arabians pushed the lead to 20 points. Only a pair of late 3-pointers by New Castle’s Meghan Brown and a parade of free-throw attempts by Macey Elyea made the final score a bit more presentable.
Hagerman topped PH with 16 points and Douglas contributed 10. Seven players scored for the home team and even more contributed.
“We have 10 players on the varsity, and I’m comfortable using them all,” said Doud.
Two other factors key for PH were turnovers and rebounding. The Arabians had just nine miscues to 15 for the Trojans. Pendleton also won the board battle 30-27.
The team contribution was especially evident on the glass as four players, Douglas, Hubble, Paige Perkins and Amanda Gaskin, grabbed four rebounds.
Brown led the Trojans with 11 points.
Pendleton Heights (1-0) hosts Muncie Central Saturday evening for its next game.
