Glendale tops Spokane in Pink Division opener

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By Denise Tucker

Springfield, MO – The Glendale Lady Falcons made a statement early in their first-round game of their Pink Division contest of the Pink & White Lady Classic against eighth-seeded Spokane.

With little time having ticked off the game clock, Kait Baird found 6-foot freshman Grace Matthews in the corner for the first of her six 3-pointers and game-high 20 points, in leading Glendale to a 55-39 victory over Spokane, handing the Lady Owls their first loss of the season, on Tuesday morning at Drury University’s Weiser Gym.

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A free throw and a baseline jumper from sister Gabby Matthews and another 3 from Grace gave the Lady Falcons a 9-2 advantage, as Spokane began to chip away.

Casey Wallace, who had made two free throws earlier, hit a 3 from the wing, picked up a steal and went coast to coast for a layup to help pull the Lady Owls (8-1) to 9-8 before a Taylor Riott free throw tied it at 9 with 3:12 left in the first quarter.

A 4-1 run to close out the quarter gave the Lady Falcons a 13-10 lead.

The Lady Falcons (3-7) took advantage of their size, which includes three 6-footers in the starting lineup, by trying to limit shots by Spokane.

“Spokane is a good team,” Glendale coach Renee Temple said. “We knew coming in that they had some pretty top shooters, and so our focus defensively was to contain those shooters and get them out of their rhythm.”

Grace Matthews started the second quarter just the way she started the first by hitting an early 3 to put Glendale up 16-10. Two more 3s from the freshman would extend the Lady Falcons’ lead to 24-15. But Spokane kept fighting and pulled to within 29-23 at halftime.

“We are extremely excited to have Grace,” Temple said. “She’s a versatile player; she’s doing a lot for us. She can step out and hit that 3; she’s quick to guard; she can get up and guard well and rebound for us. We’re very pleased to have her and look forward to many years with her.”

Glendale’s defense turned up the heat in the third quarter, limiting Spokane to just three points on its way to a 38-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“I think our size helped us from the rebounding end of the game,” Temple said. “I think we did a good job crashing the boards. Our defense is progressing, it’s getting better. It’s

getting more aggressive, and I think that really kind of took a toll on them in getting the shots that they wanted.”

Not only did Glendale’s size and game plan affect what Spokane wanted to do, but so did a lack of energy on the part of the Lady Owls, said coach Doug Hepler.

“Glendale had a good game plan and did some good things, but honestly, I really felt like we beat ourselves,” Hepler said. “I didn’t think we came with the energy we needed to come. We came in with maybe a lack of focus, a lack of intensity.

“I really felt like we didn’t play like ourselves. From that aspect, that had a lot to do with it. We didn’t really attack the basket hard enough to get them to rotate on defense. I didn’t think we showed a lot of patience throughout the game.

“Those things just kind of had a snowball effect. We didn’t play typical Spokane basketball.”

Spokane will face Marshfield at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Weiser Gym.

“We have to have a short memory,” Hepler said. “Each one of us has to take the challenge that we have in front of us now to rebound from this. I think the character of these girls that we’ll come back and we’ll work hard.”

The Lady Falcons meet top-seeded Argyle, Texas, a 68-21 winner over Marshfield, at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Both Marshfield and Texas are going to be aggressive,” Temple said. “They’re going to be hard-nosed teams, so we’re just going to have to come in and be ready to go.”

GLENDALE 55, SPOKANE 39

Glendale (3-7) — 13-16-9-17–55
Spokane (8-1) — 10-13-3-13–39

GLENDALE (3-7) – Grace Matthews 20, Gabby Matthews 11, Kait Baird 7, Katie Williams 6, Abbey Hirsch 5, Hannah Pinkston 4, Kyndall Phillips 2.

SPOKANE (8-1) – Casey Wallace 13, Keylee Armitage 10, Meghan Robertson 8, Kacee Kootz 3, Shasta Turnbough 2, Rachelle McMurray 2, Taylor Riott 1.

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