Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

There’s more to the game of basketball than just scoring points.

Just ask the St. Joseph Female Flyers.

Despite a cold shooting performance, the Female Flyers did other things to help beat the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats 57-46 Thursday.

St. Joseph made just 20 of 73 shots for 27 percent including 0-for-9 from behind the 3-point line. But the Female Flyers grabbed 36 rebounds and turned in a strong defensive effort and improved to 3-0 on the season.

“We haven’t shot the ball well and we’re 3-0. We’re doing a lot of other things well to compensate for it,” said St. Joseph coach Nick Miller. “But we’ll keep working on our shooting. We’re a much better shooting team than we’ve shown.”

Lynsey Booker had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, Hannah Miller got 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and Bri Bridges added 11 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Female Flyers.

Amber Gorman scored 11 points to pace a balanced Whiteoak offense.

“I know they are 0-3, but they are better than last year. This was a better-played game than last year when we went to their place,” Miller said referring to last year’s 49-28 road win at Whiteoak.

Booker and Hannah Miller combined for 10 points as St. Joseph jumped in front 15-5 the first quarter.

Bridges had 6 points and Miller 5 as St. Joseph opened up a 26-9 lead in the second quarter. But Whiteoak managed to cut the deficit to 30-17 at the break.

Emma Wardlow and Maggie Carr scored 5 each in the third quarter as Whiteoak mounted a comeback. Katie Roach came off the bench to hit a pair of field goals in the quarter to help the Female Flyers maintain their lead at 45-35.

In the fourth quarter, Booker had 6 more points and the Female Flyers were 5-of-7 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win.

Whiteoak 5 12 18 11 = 46

St. Joseph 15 15 15 13 = 58

WHITEOAK (0-3): Sunnie Lehr 1 0 0-0 2, Emily Stratton 2 0 0-0 4, Maggie Carr 1 2 0-2 8, Brittany Luman 2 0 2-2 6, Jayde Parr 1 0 0-0 2, Morgan Campbell 0 1 0-0 3, Courtney Cummins 1 0 0-0 2, Emma Wardlow 2 1 1-4 8, Amber Gorman 5 0 1-5 11. Totals: 15 4 4-13 46. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (3-0): Katie Roach 2 0 0-0 4, Amber Neal 0 0 6-6 6, Rachel Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Hannah Miller 4 0 7-8 15, Haley Bartram 1 0 0-0 2, Bri Bridges 5 0 1-2 11, Molly Miller 2 0 1-2 5, Lynsey Booker 6 0 4-6 16. Totals: 20-73 18-24 58. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 0-9. Rebounds: 15-21=36 (Bridges 7, Booker 7, H. Miller 6). Assists: 7 (H. Miller 4). Steals: 6 (Booker 3). Turnovers: 14.