The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Parkway's Brittyn Bruns reaches in to steal the ball from Coldwater's Becca Wenning in the first quarter at Panther Gymnasium on Thursday.
ROCKFORD - Parkway took control early and made enough key shots late to stave off Coldwater and keep pace atop the Midwest Athletic Conference.
With a 47-36 home win over the Cavaliers on Thursday, the Panthers improved to 4-2 in the MAC, half a game behind Versailles and Marion Local ahead of a trip to the Hangar next Thursday.
"We're still in good shape for that ultimate goal of winning the conference again," said Parkway coach Dan Williamson, whose Panthers earned their first MAC title in a split with the Flyers last season. "When we came into the season, that was one of their goals, and we still have a chance to do it. Trying to take it one step at a time - we took care of our end of the bargain tonight with Coldwater, but we've got some things to work on with Paulding on Tuesday to hopefully get us ready for Marion."
Coldwater (5-11, 2-4 MAC) trailed by nine in the first quarter and 11 twice in the third, but never let Parkway (11-4, 4-2 MAC) get comfortable. After Bryn Schoenleben knocked down a jump shot in the lane to make it 34-23 with 3:18 to go in the third, Madison Wendel found Becca Wenning a couple steps behind the arc for a long 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to eight.
Emma May added a trey with a minute left in the quarter, Wendel had a hoop-and-harm 2 1/2 minutes into the fourth, and Keira Knapke hit a transition layup seconds later to bring Coldwater within 37-35.
"We talked about making sure we had the people in our area, making sure we contested all shots, and boxing out," Coldwater coach Amy Meyer said. "I thought boxing out was important in the second half, and I think we did that better. Offensively, I thought we were more patient in the second half. That was the big thing, just being patient and getting good looks."
Coldwater's Claire Steinke pulls down a rebound in front of Parkway's Audrey Nichols (14) and Paige Williamson.
Knapke drew a foul, but missed the free throw, and Megan Hughes got the rebound. On the other end, Adria Miller cut in front of Steinke to grab an offensive rebound, then drew a foul and hit a free throw to make it a three-point game.
Steinke missed a shot in traffic, and Hughes dribbled to the baseline before flipping the ball back to Brittyn Bruns, who drained a corner three to make it 41-35 with 4 1/2 minutes to play.
"We talked about that at halftime, about trusting our teammates in making that extra pass, and that's a great example right there," coach Williamson said. "(Hughes) trusted Britt to make that shot, and Britt stepped up and knocked it down, which was huge."
Coldwater only got one point the rest of the way, on a Wendel free throw down by 10. Parkway didn't hit another shot from the floor, but Bryn Schoenleben hit four free throws in the final two minutes to effectively ice the game.
Parkway's Bryn Schoenleben takes a jump shot over Coldwater's Emma May on Thursday.
"Bryn Schoenleben was big tonight with those free throws," coach Williamson said. "She has a really nice ability to get into the paint."
Adria Miller got three early buckets to stake the Panthers to an 11-2 lead, but Coldwater got treys from Wendel, May and Steinke to keep within five at the end of the first.
In a low-scoring, often disjointed second quarter for both teams, the Cavaliers got within four on a Steinke free throw with 1:41 to go in the half, but Williamson sank a three on an assist from Colbie Smith with 7.2 seconds left to restore a seven-point lead.
"We just did not respond or react to people who got the ball," Meyer said. "You never want to give any kid an open look, and it seemed like they had a lot of open looks. It was like we were lost on our defense."
The Cavaliers struggled to find a rhythm on offense in the first half, shooting just 4-of-20 from the floor including a 3-for-10 showing from three.
"Sometimes we're our own worst enemy," Meyer said. "We rush things and we try to do too much too quick. I think in the first half, we felt rushed, for whatever reason."
Steinke and Williamson each had a game-high 11 points, with Steinke adding nine rebounds. Bruns finished with nine points and four assists.
Coldwater gets a chance to bounce back on Saturday at Spencerville, tipping off at 11 a.m.
