Shulman picks up first EKL win against Blue Valley West, 37-33
Keeping it close for the entirety of the game, BVNW eventually pulled away in the last 10 seconds to defeat BVW, 37-33. Sophomore Megan Edwards led the Huskies with 14 points and four rebounds.
February 9, 2019
In the opening minutes of the game, BVNW opened up with an easy layup for senior Madison Gerard to give the Huskies a quick lead. Then with a quiet rest of the quarter from both teams, BVNW went into the second quarter with an 8-6 lead.
Throughout the second quarter, BVW quickly crawled back with a pair of threes from the Jaguars’ sophomore Liv Ensley to give their team the advantage going into halftime. The Huskies went zero for seven behind the arc but senior Haley Shin’s four points from free throw line and sophomore Megan Edwards’ two made field goals, kept the Huskies within reach of the Jaguars at a 14-18 deficit.
Thanks to a 7-0 run out of the break, BVNW was able to take the lead at 21-18. This was in part due to the offensive spark from Edwards hitting a three coupled with some of the Jaguar players getting into foul trouble, meaning lots of opportunities at the line for the Huskies. Head coach Matt Shulman said a big part of the team’s offensive spark in the third quarter was their confidence.
“We work on this every day at practice. We do a great job of getting better and better,” Shulman said. “This was a game that we finally were able to show our growth and improvement over the course of the season.”
Eventually, BVW was able to gain their own offensive spark by being able to outscore the Huskies 7-2 to walk away with a 23-25 advantage going into the final quarter.
To begin the fourth quarter, BVNW set up a quick three point play for Edwards to give the Huskies a 26-25 lead. While having a 14 point and four rebound game for the Huskies, Edwards said her coaches gave her the confidence to come out and produce this effort.
“I was shooting all day and trying to get in the mental state,” Edwards said. “My coaches kept telling me to just ‘Keep shooting, you’ll eventually hit your shots.’”
Down two with 1:10 remaining, senior Madison Gerard hit a three to help lead the Huskies to a comeback win.
“It felt really good,” Gerard said of her three. “Especially because we started playing better defense in the last quarter.”
Along with a free throw from Shin, the Huskies held a two point lead with 13 seconds remaining and BVW had possession of the ball. Promptly BVNW forces a five second call leading to a Jaguars’ turnover to give BVNW the ball for the final seconds of the game. About three seconds after the five second call, Edwards was fouled and made both of her free throws to seal the win for the Huskies.
“I was mostly worried about the team,” Edwards said about her two last minute free throws. “It’s not those two points that won the game, it’s those two points that sealed the game.”
As the seconds ticked out, BVNW was able to pick up their first EKL win of the season and the first EKL win with Shulman as head coach.
“We were gritty, we were tough,” Shulman said. “We battled till the end, I told them in the locker room we’re facing adversity, but we did a great job of continuing to get better throughout the game and hopefully this isn’t the last one for the year.”
With the win, BVNW improves their record to 5-8 on the season. Their next game will be played on Saturday Feb. 9 against F.L. Schlagle at Schlagle at 4:30 p.m.
