BEMIDJI β Liv Thompson is a force on both sides of the court.
In the Bemidji High ΝαΝαΒώ» girls basketball teamβs 70-47 win over Hermantown Tuesday evening, the Lumberjacksβ returning junior point guard flexed her scoring ability, tallying a team-high 20 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
β(Thompsonβs) our coach on the court,β head coach Darin Schultz said. βShe does a really good job taking care of the basketball and getting others involved.β
Though her impressive point total is the first stat to jump off the sheet, Thomponβs defensive ability was also on full display against the Hawks, constantly forcing a discombobulated look from the opposing offense with her on-ball pressure.
βDefensively, I just donβt know if Iβve ever coached anybody who can guard on the ball as good as she does,β Schultz said.
That stout defense wasnβt a one-player show. As a team, the Jacks managed to hold Hermantown to just 18 points through the first half, causing chaos and turnovers with its full-court defense.
Bemidjiβs excellent defense continued through into the second half, as it took nearly seven minutes for the Hawks to find another basket.
βThat is, deep down, our identity,β Schultz said. βWe donβt always have the biggest size on the court compared to teams we play. So we like to play quick, we like to play fast with really a defensive intensity that canβt be matched, and then we can get out and run and kind of play to our strengths. Thatβs definitely been a core identity the last couple years, is weβre tough and weβre going to work hard on the defensive end. I think thatβs just something that our girls are just aggressive.β
βWe are a super aggressive, fast team,β Thompson said. βDefense is a really big part of what we do and how we play.β
ADVERTISEMENT
Offensively, the Lumberjacks benefitted mightily from their strong defense, cashing in on forced turnovers and moving quickly in transition after a defensive stop.
βWe worked together really well tonight, communicating,β Thompson said. βWe pushed the floor super well in transition which I think is a big part of what we do, playing fast, and a lot of that started on defense, getting steals.β
Junior Anysia Pink was another top-scoring threat for the Jacks, collecting 17 points primarily through her aggressive drives to the cup.
Bemidjiβs third and final double-digit point total came courtesy of junior Clara Bieber, who scored 10.
βWe just have a really good, cohesive group of girls,β Schultz said. βThey work hard, they play with high energy and really are playing well together right now. and our goal is just to continue to get better every day. And I feel like weβre better today than we were last Thursday when we started, so we can continue to get 1% better every day.β
BHS took control of the game past the midway point of the first half, putting together an 8-0 run to capture a 23-12 lead over the Hawks. That lead only continued to grow as the minutes wound down, ballooning to 20 points by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.
That great first-half also bucks a two-game trend for Bemidji: slow starts. In the Lumberjacks first couple games of the season, they entered the locker room trailing their opponents.
ADVERTISEMENT
βThatβs one of the things that we talked about in practice yesterday and in our pregame today,β Schultz said. β... When we come out in the second half, weβve had to have a sense of urgency because weβve been down. We started talking about today, letβs come out like weβre down five, letβs have that sense of urgency from the start.
βI think when you go in (to the second half) with a lead like that it kind of takes the monkey off the back a little bit, it takes a little pressure off. It (just) allows girls to play more free and not worry so much about what the score is or whatever it might be. It was a really nice change.β
Bemidji 70, Hermantown 47
HHS 18 29 β 47
BHS 38 32 β 70
Bemidji β Thompson 20, Pink 17, Bieber 10, Lazella 5, LaDuke 5, Malterud 5, Anderson 3, Daman 3, Birt 2.
Hermantown β Johnson 12, Hermanson 10, Sherill 5, Decker 4, Kohanski 4, Niksich 3, Wiese 3, Nelson 2, Wojtysiak 2, Harriman 2.
The Trust Project
