Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PORTSMOUTH — You’re not going to speed up Notre Dame, and it doesn’t matter what court you play on. The Titans have a style that forces you to adjust to their pace.
And by that adjustment point, it’s already over.
Notre Dame (4-0) used a swarming second quarter, and a significant rebound advantage the rest of the way, to earn a 40-27 victory over Worthington Classic on Saturday at Shawnee State University.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“Rebounding was a huge key for us and our communication was really good. We talked a lot and did a really good job identifying their threats,” Notre Dame coach Matt Payton said. “We did a great job going over their ball screens and closing out to prevent the open shots. We had a stretch of turnovers early, but overcame that and really took over the game in the fourth. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and how well they played.”
In short, Worthington Christian had no answer for ND’s Gracie Ashley.
The senior forward did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and all the Warriors could do was watch.
They simply didn’t have the ability to crash the boards against the 5-foot-10 standout, and she corralled rebounds with a motor that never stopped before finishing with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“I try to keep the mentality in the back of my mind that every shot we take is going to be a miss and I have to go get the rebound,” Ashley said. “I’m not going to get every rebound, but at least I can put up a fight and make it tough for them to get the board. We do a lot of rebounding drills and that really helped us.”
Early on, Worthington Christian was determined to use a larger-than-normal sized court to its advantage, trying to get out in the open floor. It was a strategy that seemed to work early as Jamie Custer knocked down a pair of shots to put the Warriors ahead 12-8.
However, the Titans, behind Ashley and Katie Strickland, continued to keep pace with offensive put backs, including a rebound and stick back that capped a 6-0 run to put the Titans ahead 14-12 after the first quarter.
PHOTOS: Images from Notre Dame’s win over Worthington Christian
Notre Dame was about to hit another gear, though.
Ashley, Strickland and Ella Kirby turned that 6-0 burst into a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 20-12. The Warriors continued to launch 3’s, while the Titans were pounding the ball inside for higher percentage shots.
“We really started to come together as a team and everything began to fall into place,” Kirby said. “We were ready for whatever was coming and had each other’s backs.”
Though the Warriors managed a bucket, Ashley responded with a pair of her own on the other end as the Titans won the second quarter by a 10-2 margin, taking a 24-14 lead into halftime.
“I really liked how we battled through some adversity early on and settled ourselves into the game before making our run in the second quarter,” Payton said. “Our man-to-man defense has been really good for us, but being on a bigger court, I saw we were getting gassed a little. Yet, the girls did such a great job in all areas of the game to give us that advantage heading into the half.”
Still, the Warriors weren’t ready to go down without a fight. Custer and Maddy Woodfin combined to open the third on a 6-0 run, trimming the lead to 24-20.
But the Titans didn’t panic. They just went back inside, finding the open player for the lay-in, whether it was Ashley, Kirby or Annabelle Bell.
The Warriors couldn’t get over that four-point hump, and trailing 26-22, Ashley and Kirby led the charge on an 8-0 run that put the lead into double digits before ND closed out the win.
“Basketball is a game of runs and we were prepared for stretches where they’d make a run and we didn’t,” Kirby said. “We focused on getting things done and doing things the right way. We missed some shots, but brought things back together.”
After Ashley’s numbers, Kirby and Ball finished with eight points each.
On Monday, the Titans followed their win up with another — a 47-31 decision over South Webster. Notre Dame now has a good amount of time to rest before returning to action next Thursday at Fisher Catholic.
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