colgan-22-defense
Tenacious defense led to offense all night for the Sharks, who won their first game of the year.

Defensive intensity leads Colgan past Osbourn

Second-year coach Fred Milbert has a lot of work still to do building the girls program at Colgan, but it’s easy to see the enormous potential the team and program has long-term. On Friday night his team flashed some of that potential in the Sharks’ opener, dispatching Osbourn 60-22.

When a freshman leads your team in scoring on opening night it’s easy to dream about the future. Sharks forward Alyssa Andrews had 18 rebounds, seven rebounds and five assists in the victory. Her all-around game was impressive. Senior forward Gabby Cable, one of only two seniors on the roster, added 15 points, while sophomore guard Maya Thompson added 10.

Freshman Alyssa Andrews converts a lay-up on a fast break. Andrews led the team with 18 points.
Freshman Alyssa Andrews converts a lay-up on a fast break. Andrews led the team with 18 points.

The thing opponents might want to take note of from this one was Colgan’s aggressive team defense. Sure, there were some bad fouls committed and bad angles taken. The overall team effort was impressive, however, and the Sharks kept a relatively high level of defensive intensity throughout the contest. They broke open the game by consistently denying the ball and getting in the passing lanes in their man-to-man and making the Eagles work hard for everything.

Colgan's Gabby Gable gets the clean rejection up top, though the Sharks did foul down low.
Colgan’s Gabby Cadle gets the clean rejection up top, though the Sharks did foul down low.

“I was very pleased with the team defensive effort,” Milbert said. “We worked hard, played to help each other. Jordan Smith became a strong catalyst for igniting our defensive pressure and getting the others to follow.”

The junior guard Smith’s tenaciousness did stand out. Smith and her teammates seemed to buckle down midway through the first quarter with the game knotted at six. Osbourn didn’t score the rest of the stanza and turned the ball over repeatedly as Colgan embarked on a 27-5 run to conclude the half. Osbourn was working so hard to just take care of the ball on offense that the Eagles had to pull back on defense. Their turnovers also led to a ton of fast-break points for the Sharks.

Colgan's Jordan Smith pressured the ball on defense all night.
Colgan’s Jordan Smith pressures Osbourn guard Love Delaney. Smith was tough to get by all night.

Sophomore Love Delaney had a nice game for Osbourn (0-2), doing everything she could to take care of the ball and contributing six points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Eagles were a little short-handed on the night, dressing only eight players. They started three sophomores and a freshman, so there will no doubt be better times ahead for them as well.

Colgan’s better times might arrive sooner than later, although they also remain a young team. Milbert is optimistic, although his team still has to grow and develop roles.

“One night does not define our season, I believe there is a lot more to come from all of the members of our team,” he said. “I have seen some exciting growth by our players in the past year, and I expect to see more as we continue to gain experience this year.  This team is still developing its character and persona.”

–Chris Jollay

–all stats are unofficial

COLGAN FG FT TP RB AST
CADLE 6-13 0-2 15 4 1
J.SMITH 3-7 2-2 9 2 3
ANDREWS 8-19 2-4 18 7 5
ELLISON 0-3 2-2 2 1 3
N.SMITH 1-6 1-2 3 5 1
Thompson 4-6 1-2 10 0 1
Asinero 0-3 0-0 0 3 0
Myles 1-1 1-2 3 0 0
Roderick 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Callaway 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Stephen 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
TOTALS 23-59 9-16 60 27 14
Threes: Cadle 3-5, J. Smith 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Ellison 0-3, Andrews 0-2, Asinero 0-1
OSBOURN FG FT TP RB AST
DELANEY 2-7 2-6 6 7 3
V.TAYLOR 2-8 0-2 5 5 0
POWELL 0-6 2-2 2 1 0
HOWARD 2-2 0-0 4 1 1
S.TAYLOR 1-11 3-7 5 9 0
B.Williams 0-1 0-2 0 3 0
Bustillo 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
R.Williams 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
TOTALS 7-35 7-21 22 26 4
Threes: V. Taylor 1-5, Powell 0-2