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Paige Kuluva

Senior guard Kate Kaufman, who finished with 5 assists, dribbles up the court during the first half against Schlagle on Jan. 5.

After a 9-0 run put together by the Schlagle Stallions to open the second half scoring, the girls basketball team found themselves in a very familiar position. While the Huskies went into the half of Friday’s game trailing only by a score of 17-16, the Huskies’ lackluster performance to open the third quarter gave the Stallions a 10 point lead with just under 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Despite calling two timeouts during this span, BVNW was unable to regroup, and this game appeared to be another third quarter collapse for the girls basketball team.

“We’ve had some times in the past where if we weren’t making shots then we stopped playing defense, and it just snowballed and got worse,” head coach Brian Bubalo said.

While this game seemed to be more of the same, two seniors stepped up big for the Huskies late in the third quarter. Senior guard Bridget Harrison was able to convert a layup which ended Schlagle’s 9-0 run. On the ensuing possession for BVNW, senior forward Sarah Martin drilled her second three-pointer of the game which closed the Huskies gap to 5, at 26-21. Bubalo said the Huskies defense translated to success on the other end of the court.

“Not only did we finally make some shots,” Bubalo said, “but we kept playing defense this time.”

However, Harrison and Martin would not stop there. Martin was able to convert on a long two-point attempt with 2:27 left in the third quarter, and Harrison made one of her three 3-pointers on the night with 1:45 remaining in the quarter. Shortly thereafter, Schlagle was forced to call a timeout which would mark a 10-0 run by the Huskies which tied up the game at 26-26.

Though the Huskies would go on to trail 29-28 after three quarters of play, it was clear BVNW gained momentum after coming back from a 10 point deficit late in the third quarter. Although starting out slow, Harrison said the Huskies were able to show resiliency when mounting the comeback.

“When we came out in the third quarter, we didn’t start out very strong,” Harrison said. “I think we just got very frustrated, so we just needed to come back on them stronger.”

With six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, senior forward Evan Bail converted a layup which gave BVNW a 32-31 lead over Schlagle. From that point on, the Huskies would retain the lead backed by the play of Harrison and Martin, who scored 16 points and 12 points, respectively. While the Stallions made pushes to attempt to get back in the game, the Huskies fought their way to a 47-42 victory.

Prior to making their third quarter run, the Huskies found themselves in a battle with the Stallions in the first half. Schlagle not only switched between a man-to-man and zone defense throughout the first half, but they also ran a press at the start of the game. While the Stallions defense did not give BVNW too much trouble, the Huskies were sped up on occasion, leading to missed open shots near the rim and 7 turnovers in total in the first half. Bubalo said although the Stallions pressured the ball and played different defenses, the team was able to play through it.

“It took us a while to adjust in the first half,” Bubalo said, “but in the second half I thought we did much better.”

A big reason BVNW was able to keep it close was due to Harrison making 2 three-pointers at the end of the half which cut Schlagle’s lead to 17-16 going into the half.

With the win, the Huskies start their 2018 campaign off undefeated (2-0), and improve their season record to 3-5. The Huskies will travel to face Blue Valley North in the first part of a doubleheader between the boys and girls on Friday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. Martin said both wins at home to start off the new year is motivating.

“It feels really good,” Martin said. “It boosts our confidence, and we have North on Friday, so we’re ready for revenge.”