Lady 'Birds blast the Bulldogs
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Bubble Burster Shae Solomon and the Lady 'Bird defense was strong against Yoakum Tuesday. Solomon had six steals, five rebounds and led El Campo with 15 points.

The Lady 'Birds were impressive in their home opener in front of a crowd eager to see what the new basketball season could look like.

Tuesday's 77-26 win over the Yoakum Bulldogs featured an El Campo team that dominated every part of the game with great teamwork and hustle.

Among several areas of the Lady 'Birds success was team rebounding. El Campo totaled 30 rebounds on the night, led by Ashley Brooks' 12 boards.

"I thought Ashley Brooks did an awesome job early in the game of getting a lot of rebounds," said Noma Kremling, head coach of the Lady 'Birds. "She had a little trouble getting the shot back in the basket in the first half, but she did a good job in the second half. And Shae Solomon has done a good job for us in both games."

The coach said she saw improvement in her team's ball control in only their second game of the year and pointed to the Lady 'Birds' defensive play as the main reason for dominance.

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley A Nasty Hit Chelsi Robinson was fouled hard on this play near the end of the first quarter. She recovered from the big hit to make one of two free throws.

"I felt like, running the ball, we were more under control than we where in the first game," Kremling said. "Of course, that's just first-game jitters. I thought their defense was really the secret because they got a lot of easy steals and easy transition points early in the game.

The Lady 'Birds started the game off strong with their signature full-court press leading to several turnovers and an early 4-0 lead.

After the Bulldogs scored their first basket, Ebonee Spencer responded with a nice jump shot from the top of the key to put El Campo ahead 6-2.

It was not long until the stifling Lady 'Bird defense forced Yoakum into enough turnovers to take a 14-4 lead.

The last point of the first quarter came on one of the night's many great defensive plays.

Spencer played strong defense and came away with a steal and caught Chelsi Robinson streaking to the basket. Robinson pushed the ball up court and went up for an easy layup when she was caught from behind and fouled hard.

After picking herself up off the floor, Robinson followed the play by connecting on one of two free throws to put El Campo ahead 15-4.

The Lady 'Bird defense practically clinched the game in the first quarter with 11 steals. El Campo continued to play at full strength throughout the game and finished the night with 44 total steals.

El Campo came out to start the second quarter with a slight lull. A few minutes into play, and with no scoring, Kremling called a time out to re-focus her team.

The brief pause in action seemed to help the Lady 'Birds approach the game with tenacity as the team combined for several rebounds for extra chances at scoring.

"You've got to rebound the ball and get those extra shots," Kremling said. "We don't shoot but about 35 percent as a team, so we've got to have those extra attempts. I think our quickness helps us out a lot there because we're not very tall. So, if we're not going to be quick to get around somebody, we're not going to get those extra rebounds."

El Campo used its speed and agility well in the second half. Yoakum had trouble keeping up with the Lady 'Birds while El Campo outscored the Bulldogs 22-8 in the second quarter to take a 37-12 lead at the half.

Even with the big lead in the third quarter, the Lady 'Birds still came out in a full-court press. The Lady 'Birds stopped the pressure late in the quarter after several more steals. El Campo moved ahead 57-18 with one quarter left to play.

Kremling said she feels the full-court press is a strength of her team and they want to use it as often as possible.

"We want to do it for 30 minutes," Kremling said. "We pulled out tonight with about five minutes left in the third quarter, because when the score gets to a certain point, you need to work on other facets of your game."

Though the Lady 'Birds backed off on defense, they still held Yoakum in check. El Campo had 13 steals in the third quarter and only allowed the Bulldogs five field-goal attempts.

The fourth quarter featured more dominance by the Lady 'Birds. They made their first eight shots in the quarter. El Campo ultimately made good on 10 of 12 attempts in the quarter and had six assists.

The Lady 'Birds outscored the Bulldogs 20-8 in the final quarter to finish with a 77-26 final score.