First-year coach Jill Nagel installs a loud and physical defense at Rock Bridge.
Along with the Rock Bridge girls’ basketball teams’ swarming, physical defense comes an onslaught of something else. Loud, emphatic chants.
Shouts of “ball, ball, ball” consistently come from the Bruins’ on-ball defender. First-year coach Jill Nagel said that’s something she’s brought to the team this year since learning it in high school.
“That way we just always got people talking,” Nagel said. “It’s hard to play against a team that’s always got somebody yelling.”
For the Moberly Spartans, that’s exactly what it was. The Bruins defeated the Spartans 52-49 Saturday in the Columbia College High School Shootout.
While on defense, the Bruins got right up in Moberly’s face and swarmed them with multiple defenders, befuddling the Spartans most of the game. The Bruins’ defense was so physical that it spent much of the game on the floor chasing loose balls. Many times the Bruins would draw fouls, but that didn’t deter Nagel from changing her style.
“That’s the way we like to play and that’s the way we’re going to play,” Nagel said.
At halftime, the Bruins led by 11 and almost had that many more fouls than the Spartans. The Bruins had more than 10 team fouls in the first-half, more than the scoreboard even holds, while the Spartans had three.
Nagel said she doesn’t worry about fouls because of the Bruins ability to go nine-deep from their bench.
“They know they can play physical because they know they can have a teammate come in and pick up where they left off,” Nagel said.
The Bruins’ depth played a major role in their victory against the Spartans. Junior forward Ashley Agee provided most of Moberly’s offense most of the game, while the Bruins’ attack used multiple scorers, inside and outside. Junior center Ashley Dressler and senior guard Cameo Holly paced the Bruins with 12 points each, however, five other Bruins scored four points or more.
“That’s definitely an asset with us because we know we have multiple people that can contribute,” sophomore guard/forward Claire Schaeperkoetter said.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Bruins had a comfortable 41-26 lead but it quickly shrunk. As the Spartans began to get open looks, they took advantage by hitting five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
“We played extremely hard for three quarters and we just, for some reason, didn’t put them away in the fourth quarter,” Nagel said.
Still, it was enough for the Bruins to earn their second victory of the season. Next up, the Bruins travel Monday to Gateway Tech before their home opener Dec. 10 against Willard.