Shelby tops Plymouth in girls basketball opener

PLYMOUTH — Shelby coach Natalie Lantz insisted her team was a little sluggish.

The scoreboard suggested otherwise.

The Whippets ushered in the new season with an overwhelming first half performance and cruised to a 66-38 girls basketball victory over short-handed Plymouth on Friday, but Lantz thought her team was suffering from a tryptophan hangover.

“I’m not sure if they ate too much turkey yesterday or what,” Lantz said. “This wasn’t our normal defense.

“We have got to play with a lot more defensive intensity than we did tonight. We lagged off quite a bit instead of putting pressure on the ball.”

Shelby forced 11 first-quarter turnovers and jumped out to an 18-3 advantage. The lead ballooned to 37-8 at the half.

“When we were able to get the ball up the floor, we got good looks,” Plymouth coach Olen Dials said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make many of them.”

The Big Red outscored Shelby 30-29 in the second half.

“It was a little different attitude in the second half,” Dials said. “We came out and played really hard defensively and got some transition baskets.

“For not having a lot of experience and going against a team like Shelby, the girls did better than I thought they might do. I’m really pleased with the effort.”

Balance: Three players reached double figures for the Whippets. Kennadie Goth led the way with 15, followed by Gabby Stephens with 14. Jackie Garrett had 12 and Maddi Fidler added nine.

Stephens added 12 rebounds, three steals and three assists.

“Gabby is very persistent. She’s going to stay after it on the boards,” Lantz said. “Her shot was not falling, but she had some nice drives.

“She’s a good leader. She keeps her teammates involved.”

Leah Eldridge led the Big Red with 14 points. Kelsey Breznicki added 12.

“Those are the only players back with any real experience,” Dials said. “They held their own.”

A 5-foot-7 senior guard, Eldridge got her teammates involved in the second half.

“Leah had four or five assists in the second half,” Dials said. “When she is out of the game, we are struggling.”

Walking Wounded: Plymouth was without five regulars Friday night.

“We have a fractured vertebra, an ACL sprain, a stage four ankle sprain a separated shoulder and one girl just had her wisdom teeth out,” Dials said. “All those players are going to be in the rotation. We were really thin on the bench.”

Tough Schedule: Shelby is at Ashland tonight before visiting Mansfield Senior on Tuesday. The Whippets host Bellevue on Dec. 6 and are at Willard on Dec. 13.

“We have a ways to go if we want to be competitive with the teams we have coming up,” Lantz said. “We can’t afford to have any lulls on defense.

“Our girls were frustrated with the way they performed. They will be ready tomorrow night. Hopefully we’ll see a different team out there.”