By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BLUE EYE — Offense has always come relatively easy for Blue Eye’s Kohnnar Patton. Defense, not so much by her own admission.
But Patton’s defense stood out even more than her 18 points in Blue Eye’s season-opening 66-41 triumph over Bradleyville on Tuesday.
Patton helped hold Bradleyville high-scoring guard Kourtney Shipley to a career-low five points. Patton drew the assignment of defending Shipley all night.
“I was hoping coach (Ken Elfrink) would put me on Shipley. I wanted to do a good job her,” Patton said. “She’s an all-state player. Coach told me I need to grit my teeth and try to keep her down.
“I have to give a lot of credit for my defense to him. My seventh- and eighth-grade years, I wasn’t great at defense. But I’ve kept improving at it because of what he makes us do in practice.”
Shipley was forced courtside midway through the second quarter with four fouls. She played the entire second half without picking up her fifth foul. Bue Blue Eye extended its lead from 18-13 to 30-19 at halftime with Shipley on the Lady Eagles’ bench.
“I thought we could have stayed with them if she hadn’t got in foul trouble,” Bradleyville coach Autumn Thomas said. “I trusted her as long as I could. But when she picked up her fourth foul, I had to take her out.
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“She got a lot of shots tonight. She just wasn’t on.”
The Lady Bulldogs were aware of Shipley’s foul count as early has her second foul.
“I looked at my teammate and said, ‘Let’s push it toward her to get her in foul trouble and out of the game,'” Patton said.
A year ago, Blue Eye also contained Shipley in a 19-point Lady Bulldogs win. With Kenzie Hobbs defending Shipley, she was held to eight points through the first three quarters, before finishing with 17. With Hobbs coming back from a torn ACL, she gave way to Patton this time around.
“I thought the key for us beating them last year was the defense Kenzie played on Shipley,” Elfrink said. “Kenzie is still a step slow this year. So, I challenged Kohnnar. She stepped up to the challenge.”
Blue Eye’s ball-handling was exceptional. The Lady Bulldogs didn’t turn the ball over in the first quarter and finished with a modest seven giveaways overall.
“We came out of the gate doing what I want us to do,” Elfrink said. “I thought we took care of the ball. We didn’t always get the best shot we could get. But we moved the ball and got the ball inside and got to the free-throw line.”
Blue Eye gave Bradleyville a chance to draw close by committing 10 fouls in the first five minutes of the second half. But the Lady Eagles finished only 20-of-39 from the free-throw line.
Patton, Kenedi Larson and Taylor Arnold combined for 52 points. Larson had a game-high 19 points and Arnold 15.
Larson was encouraged to have a hot hand early on. She’s been accustomed to starting a season slow at the offensive end.
“Kenedi has the potential to do a lot of great things,” Elfrink said. “She’s a streaky shooter. When she gets hot, she can really shoot it.”
“It usually takes me a while to get in the swing of things,” Larson said. My parents have been trying to get me to work hard for this season, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I’m excited to start the season this way.”
Bradleyville 9 10 14 8 – 41
Blue Eye 17 13 20 16 – 66
BRADLEYVILLE (40) – Kourtney Shipley 5, Dorian Hayes 9, Anna Turner 2, Gracie Shipley 10, Emily Williams 4, Maddie Shipley 2. Tay Sims 9.
BLUE EYE (66) – Kenzie Hobbs 5, Ayshia Bettlach 5, Taylor Arnold 15, Kenedi Larson 19, Kohnnar Patton 18, Maddie Box 2, Addie Forrester 2, Katelynn Hansen 2.
