Recommend This StoryGetting defensive: Host Falcons roar back to down Mountaineers
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By Jerry Holsworth - sports@nvdaily.com
WOODSTOCK -- If Central forward Brenna Cook is looking for a lucky digit, she might want to consider the number eight.
In a Bull Run District girls basketball game that featured poor shooting and aggressive -- at times brutal -- defense, Cook's eighth attempt at a 3-pointer proved to the decisive moment in the Falcons' come-from-behind 42-40 win over Madison County (7-10, 4-5 Bull Run).
For 30 minutes Cook, who averages 14 points a game, missed every field goal attempt she took, including seven straight 3-point attempts.
But after trailing through the entire first half, Central (8-9, 6-3 Bull Run) used a tenacious full-court press in the second half to get back into the game.
Cook, who had managed just seven points from the free-throw line through most the game, was a major factor in the Falcons' success.
"We actually wanted to go to the full-court press in the second quarter, but we had a couple of key players in foul trouble [so] we decided to wait until the second half," Central coach Stephanie Cooper said. "In the second half the opportunity presented itself and it worked out."
Blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and playing a key role in causing 29 Madison County turnovers, the sophomore Cook kept victory within reach.
Two quick buckets by Allison Bright to begin the fourth quarter finally gave Central a narrow 32-29 lead. The Falcons' press denied the Mountaineers many chances to respond, holding them to just three field-goal attempts over the first six minutes of the final period.
Aggressive defenses, however, have a tendency to also cause a lot of fouls, and the Mountaineers used the free-throw line to keep the game in doubt.
With just two minutes to play and the score tied 35-all and points about a rare as a winning lottery ticket, Cook decided to try an eighth attempt at a 3-pointer.
This time, though, with two Mountaineers defenders hands in her face, she hammered home the shot to put her Falcons up for good.
Madison County tried desperately to respond to Cook's heroics, launching five 3-pointers over the final two minutes of play. Finally, with just six seconds left on the clock, Mountaineers guard Alexis Smith hit one, but it proved to be too little, too late.
Cook and Bright both finished the game with 10 points, but it was their defensive effort that made the difference. Flying all over the court with teammates Katelyn Poston, Sydney Plum, and Rebecca Truban, the Falcons paid for their aggressiveness with 12 second-half fouls.
The Mountaineers hit 9 of their 12 free-throw attempts in the second half to help counter their 4 of 18 from the field.
It was an offensive performance that mirrored Central's in the first half.
The Falcons were only able to connect on four of their 31 field-goal attempts in the first half, and were in danger of allowing Madison County to build a lead that was impossible to overcome.
The free-throw line, which had worked for Central in the first quarter, also deserted them late in the opening period. After sinking all four of their free throws over the first six minutes of play, the Falcons missed all five of their remaining free-throw attempts of the first half.
With Central unable to find way to score points, Madison County was able to build a 21-12 lead at intermission.
Bright, Cook and Poston were able to score enough points in the third quarter to get the Falcons back in the game. Poston scored six key points from the field in the second half, and was 6 of 8 from the line, including four straight free throws over the final two minutes of play.
Bright contributed six points from the field, and Cook hit all four of her free throws in the third quarter.
Poston finished the night with a game-high 16 points.
The Mountaineers were led by Chandler Gentry, who scored 10 points for Madison County, including three 3-pointers.
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