After a stumble a couple of weeks ago, Coach Schofield and his Lady Bruin varsity basketball team walked on the floor with a determination not seen since early in the season for their final assignment in 3A-5 Far West League play.
The stands were packed and the season championship was on the line as the tip-off was thrown in the air. Led by sophomore Lexi Schofield #1 who had two 3’s, two baskets and two free throws for 12 points in the period, the energy in their play pushed them to 20 points in the first period. The Lady Bruins pace forced Cascade Christians Coach Glenn Johannes to apply a full-court press midway through the first period, but that did not stop senior Mickey Fulton #2 and junior guard Sidney Alexander from getting on the scoreboard.
The second period Coach Schofield turned up the defense with a 2-3 defense and a press picked up at the midway mark on Lady Challenger half of the court. This forced the Lady Challengers to pass and work the ball up creating opportunities for the defense to overplay and cause turnovers. The turnovers let the Lady Bruins run and the Lady Challengers had no answer for senior center Chloe McCrae #44 who established herself in the lane and hit a basket and got to the line four times. Again Sidney Alexander hit a 3 pointer and basket for 5 more points and Lexi Schofield hit a bucket and drove inside only to be fouled and go 2 for 2 from the line. The Lady Bruins held to just 9 points in the period as the Lady Bruins added 15 points to their score taking a 35-21 lead into the half time break.
The third period had the Lady Bruins return to the court perhaps more determined than in the first half. With the finish line and league Championship in their sights, you could sense they were not going to be denied. The Lady Bruins put six scorers in the books in the third period as Lexi Schofield lost her mind hitting a 3 pointer a basket and again went 2 for 2 from the line. Senior Mickey Fulton hit a 3 pointer of her own and a free throw, sophomore Gracie Harms hit a 3 pointer, Sidney Alexander went 2 for 2 from the line and sophomore #20 Lexee Murray added 2 more points to her line score as the Lady Bruins defense smothered the Lady Challengers holding them to 10 points in the quarter as the Lady Bruins offense stretched their lead going into the final 8 minutes.
With the Lady Bruins leading 55-31 at the start of the fourth period, Coach Schofield had the Lady Bruins hold the line with pressure to not allow the Lady Challengers to close the gap. Both teams went score for score in the first half of the fourth period before pulling his senior players off the floor to enjoy the final minutes as the Lady Bruins took the win in their final league game of the season and the League Championship propelling them into postseason play.
After the game last night, Coach Schofield said “the girls felt a lot of pressure to finish things off with a league title and I thought they responded really well to the pressure playing with a ton of energy and confidence tonight.”
Congratulations to Coach Schofield and the Lady Bruins on their 3A-5 Far West League Championship, and good luck going into post-season play.
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