BETHEL — Unable to scoring consistently until the fourth quarter, Blanchester lost its first game of the year Thursday to Bethel-Tate 46-34 in a Southern Buckeye Conference National Division game at the BT gym.
The win moves Blanchester to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the National Division. Bethel-Tate is 5-0 overall and 4-0 in league play.
Julia Jenike of Bethel-Tate, who is headed to Florida International on scholarship, had 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots.
“We just couldn’t do anything with her,” said Bennie Carroll. “She’s a load.”
Rachael Doyle was the lone member of the Ladycats who found her stride on offense. She made 8 of 14 from the floor and finished with 17 points. The rest of the team was just 4 of 27 from the floor.
“We struggled against their press more than they struggled against our press,” Carroll said. “We never did get in a comfort zone in offense. We never got into a rhythm.”
Blanchester didn’t score more than 8 points in any of the first 3 quarters. Until making 5 of 11 from the field in the fourth, Blanchester was 7 for 30 through 3 quarters.
Despite the shooting woes, the Ladycats trailed by 6 at halftime, 20-14. It was still a 6-point game when Sarah Burton banked home a 3 from the top of the key early in the third, 23-17.
But Jenike put the Lady Tigers on her back and scored 5 unanswered points and key a 9-2 run to finish the quarter with Bethel-Tate on top 32-19.
While Blanchester had a few opportunities to cut the difference to under 10 in the fourth quarter, free throws were a problem as they converted just 5 of 12 in the final quarter.
SUMMARY
Dec 10, 2015
@Bethel-Tate High School
Bethel-Tate 46 Blanchester 34
BL 06.08.05.15…..34
BT 06.14.12.14…..46
(34) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Burton 2-1-3-8 Culberson 1-1-0-3 Doughman 0-0-3-3 Doyle 8-0-1-17 Dugger 1-0-0-2 Miller 0-0-1-1 E. Gundler 0-0-0-0 Lindsey 0-0-0-0 Farrow 0-0-0-0 Baldwin 0-0-0-0 O. Gundler 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 12-2-8-34
(46) BETHEL-TATE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Demaris 2-0-0-4 Reinhart 1-0-2-4 Jenike 7-2-3-18 Foster 1-0-4-6 Parks 5-0-0-10 Leonard 0-0-1-1 Taylor 0-0-0-0 Stiles 1-0-0-2. TOTALS 17-2-10-46
FIELD GOALS: Blan 12-41 (Doyle 8-14) BT 17-38 (Jenike 7-15)
3 PT FIELD GOALS: Blan 2-7 BT-2-6
FREE THROWS: Blan 8-19 (Doughman 3-4) BT-10-17 (Foster 4-4)
REBOUNDS: Blan-27 (Burton 7 Doyle 6 Doughman 4 Dugger 2 E. Gundler 2 Lindsey 2) BT-31 (Jenike 9 Reinhart 5 Taylor 4)
ASSISTS: Blan-7 (Burton 2, Culberson 2, Dugger 2) BT- 5 (Jenike 2 Leonard 2)
STEALS: Blan-7 (Culberson 3, Doyle 2) BT-14 (Jenike 4 Reinhart 4 Parks 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: Blan-1 BT-3 (Jenike 2)
TURNOVERS: Blan-27 BT-30
