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Parkway's Cami Langenkamp (12) and Madelyn Stover pressure Delphos St. John's Blaire Gable during Monday's MAC girls basketball game at Panther Gymnasium in Rockford.
ROCKFORD - Balance is important in life, and in the game of basketball balance is crucial. For Parkway, it was a balanced effort that led them to a big 45-33 win Monday over Delphos St. John's in Midwest Athletic Conference play. Seven of the nine Panthers that played scored, and five of the seven scored five or more points en route to the win.
"We did what we wanted to do," Parkway coach Dan Williamson said postgame. "We controlled the pace with our defense, the 1-3-1 (zone defense) was effective, and we controlled things early."
The Panthers (8-1, 2-1) jumped out early as Megan Hughes' five points paced a 10-point first quarter. St. John's (2-7, 0-3) could not get the lid off the rim until there was 49 seconds left in the frame. It was a layup from Megan Kerner that put the Blue Jays on the board, but the Panthers held a 10-2 lead when the first quarter ended.
Parkway continued to put its foot on the gas as an 11-0 run opened the second quarter. It was a balanced effort during the near six minute stretch, with three players accounting for the 11 points. Madelyn Stover got it started with a three from the corner and Hadley Stover added two from a floater in the paint. After Madelyn Stover got a free-throw to drop, Brittyn Bruns nailed a three from the top of the key to push the score to 19-2.
Bruns made another three to eventually give Parkway a 24-5 lead, while a KJae Stover jumper concluded the half. While St. John's was able to make some late shots, Parkway took a 26-9 lead into the locker room. Bruns' six was a team-high in the quarter, while five Parkway players found the score sheet in the second frame.
The second half began with St. John's in possession, but Parkway's press forced three straight turnovers. Colbie Smith score her only two of the game during the opening phase, and Cami Langenkamp's free-throws grew the Panther advantage to 30-9.
While the score was lopsided, the Blue Jays kept fighting. Six quick points from Laine Flanagan and Aubrey Fairchild cut the Parkway lead to 15. The Panthers responded well to the run, and outscored St. John's 10-4 to end the quarter up 40-19.
Langenkamp scored all five of her points in the quarter, with three coming from the charity stripe. Hughes added three more, while Bruns and Abby Williamson got a pair of points to aid the 14-point third quarter effort. St. John's scored 10 in the third, led by Flanagan and Fairchild's three points each.
Parkway's Megan Hughes shoots over a pair of St. John's defenders.
The final quarter started with both teams trading baskets. Lilly Klaus opened the scoring from deep for the Blue Jays, while Williamson responded with a three of her own from the corner. Parkway's lead was up to 43-22 with seven minutes left, and the pace dramatically changed.
For the final minutes of the contest, St. John's looked like the team to beat. After Hughes got a tough layup to drop, the Blue Jays responded with a fire not seen over the first three quarters.
Maris Baldauf hit a three to cut the deficit to 20, and Klaus repeated the effort to get it to a 17-point difference. With 4:10 left, a comeback looked out of the question, but the visitors definitely made it interesting.
A jumper from the elbow from Liv Mueller got the score to 45-30, and a Parkway turnover set up St. John's with possession and under two minutes on the clock. As the Blue Jay's advanced over half-court, a tough mental lapse resulted in a traveling call, and it was Parkway ball.
Klaus could only manage one more three with 1:11 left, and the Panthers dribbled out the clock en route to the 12-point victory. Klaus made every shot in the fourth, and scored nine of her 11 points in the quarter. For Parkway, the fourth was eight minutes of tough offense. The Panthers only scored five in the quarter, and were held scoreless over the final 5:18.
"We knew Delphos St. John's was not going to give up, and we knew they had some shooters," Williamson said. "We've got to finish and play 32 full minutes of basketball."
Regardless, Parkway took home a crucial victory over a MAC team. Hughes' 12 led the way, while Bruns added nine and Williamson pitched in eight points, respectively. This game sees the end of a six-game stretch over 12 days for the Panthers, who do not see the court again until Dec. 29 when they travel to play South Adams.
