Carroll girls hoops bounces back with OT win over Bell
Call it a badly needed bounce-back week for the Carroll girls basketball program. Following a difficult stretch against Keller and McKinney North, the Lady Dragons responded well. They opened District 7-6A with wins over Haltom and Hurst L.D. Bell.
But the 58-56 overtime win at L.D. Bell this past Friday proved vital given that the Lady Raiders feature one of the area’s best players in Lexi Gordon. Bell forced overtime by outscoring Carroll, 25-16, in the second half. The Lady Dragons (10-7, 2-0) just found a few more plays in the extra period.
Then there was the game within the game, as Carroll’s Prescilla Smeenge got into a game of “Can you top this?” with Gordon. Smeenge finished with 21 points. Gordon had 28. While fans and sometimes coaches can enjoy the one-on-one competition, that doesn’t fit with Carroll coach Teri Morrison.
“We’re just trying to get Scilla in a position where she can score and do our best to stop them,” Morrison said. “It’s huge to be 2-0 with a big win at Bell. That’s a tough place to play. That gives us a chance to be successful. We had some turnovers that hurt us. But we did the things that we wanted to do to be successful.”
As required by the University Interscholastic League, teams cannot have practice for five days at the holiday break. But Morrison was going to use the one day – Monday – to be low key. Players would come to an open gym before opening play in the Mansfield Spring Creek Barbeque Invitational Tournament on Monday.
Lay from deep
As she continues to get a handle on playing point guard for the Lady Dragons, sophomore Brooke Lay has been more than amazing from 3-point range.
Through the first 17 games, Lay is shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc (32-65). Lay is pretty much Carroll’s designated 3-point shooter. She’s attempted nearly twice as many 3-point field goals than 2-pointers (33).
The key is that Lay has worked well within the framework of the offense and found spots on the floor to make herself available. Teammates have been finding her.
“She puts in a lot of hours in the gym and made herself into a threat,” Morrison said. “She’s a shooter and when we have ball reversal, she finds a way to put herself in position. Brooke takes shots where she feels comfortable. It’s really not about the individual but about the ball movement.”
Scilla’s game
Smeenge’s game against L.D. Bell was as complete as Morrison said she has seen this season. Smeenge had 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. The package included a couple of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and several assists when she was playing on the offensive end.
“The total player,” Morrison said. “She had to carry a lot more of the decision-making. But she was very good.”
Smeenge is averaging a team-high 14.1 points per game.
Mansfield tournament
Carroll opens play in the Mansfield Spring Creek Barbecue Invitational Tournament at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 28 against Wolfforth Frenship at Mansfield Legacy High School. Win or lose, the Lady Dragons would meet the winner or loser of Mansfield Legacy-Cabot (Ark.) at 8:15 p.m. at either Mansfield Lake Ridge or Mansfield Summit.
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Carroll girls hoops bounces back with OT win over Bell."