Danbury comes up short against Calvert

DANBURY TWP. — Danbury's shooting was rough from the get-go. The Lakers missed the first six shots they took, but settled in. But, a second rough stretch of shooting doomed Danbury in the second half. The Lakers went more than 10 minutes without a field goal, falling 46-36 to Calvert in Sandusky Bay Conference River Division action Thursday. "I think we lacked execution," Danbury coach Joe Miller said. "I think we got a little stagnant and stopped trying to penetrate. We have to do a better job of trying to gap the zone. Obviously, we didn't shoot the ball particularly well. "Coming into game, we were leading the league in 2-point and 3-point percentage, so it was kind of uncharacteristic." After a 3-pointer by Ella McDonald brought the Lakers (10-2, 7-1 SBC River) within 22-19 at halftime, Danbury didn't have another shot fall until Thea Brickner's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. By that time, Danbury was down by double-digits. The triple cut it to 35-27 with 7:15 to play, but seven points was all the closer the Lakers got. "We knew all day long they were going to play 2-3 zone," Miller said. "It wasn't a surprise. It just felt like at times their length and our inability to finish shots really hurt us. I felt like we got a lot of good looks. We just didn't shoot a high enough percentage to get the win tonight." Danbury also struggled at the foul line. The Lakers cashed in on just 7 of 15 attempts including a 1 of 4 effort in the first half. "We're right around 60 percent from the foul line usually," Miller said. "If we shoot 60 percent tonight, that's three or four more points and all of a sudden, it's a little closer. We have to get back to good shooting practices and a good mindset." After missing early, Danbury played better. The Lakers ripped off the next seven points before Calvert (10-1, 7-1) responded. Buckets by Kate Coleman, Alyssa Rishty and Carleigh Meier gave the Senecas the lead. A score by Meier put Calvert up 11-9 after one quarter. Coleman got hot from deep in the second quarter. She nailed back-to-back 3s before a 3-pointer by Rishty put the Senecas up 20-14. McDonald's 3 sliced the Calvert lead in half, but Danbury was ice cold from the field in the third quarter. The Lakers missed all seven shots they attempted. Despite the woes, Danbury was within 26-24 with 2:37 to go in the third quarter before Calvert finished strong. Rishty scored and then added a three-point play to make it 31-24. A bucket by Kaleigh Concepcion pushed the Senecas' lead to nine points after three quarters. "Our whole gameplan was to get back in our 2-3 zone," Calvert coach Aaron Sheets said. "If something isn't broke, don't fix it. Our 2-3 zone worked well because it's basically just a matchup zone. We change it every game. We try to take away strengths. In the first half, we took away (Ella) McDonald by playing under her and she didn't get a point." Rishty also scored to open the fourth quarter before Brickner ended the 10:21 field goal drought for Danbury. "They average about 60 points a game, so that was huge," Sheets said. "We have the No. 1 scoring offense right now, but they have a great offense. I believe we have the best defense and they have the best fundamental offense. Coming into the game, we wanted to keep them in the 30s or 40s. They push the ball better than anybody." But, Coleman came right back with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 38-27 with 6:42 to play. Danbury's last push came with about four minutes to go. Mia McDonald scored before Ella McDonald cut the deficit to 40-33, but a missed free throw hurt the Lakers' chances of getting any closer. "I have to be honest. I thought the game would be in the 40s," Miller said. "I didn't think it was going to be a run-and-gun game because both teams are athletic and get back defensively. It's not like there's a lot of runouts and opportunities because people can handle the ball and be able to finish at the rim." Rishty topped Calvert with 16 points while Coleman added 13 points. "It was two of the top three teams in the league coming in," Sheets said. "We knew it was a big game. They beat us by 37 and like 34 points two years ago. We cut it to 10 and 1 last year. To win here by 10 is an awesome win." Maci Brown led Danbury with nine points and six assists while Brickner added eight points. The Lakers outrebounded Calvert, 30-27. Danbury has no time to feel sorry for itself as the Lakers host Gibsonburg (8-3, 8-0) in another massive SBC River contest Saturday. "Not everything is lost," Miller said. "We won nine in a row and now we have to get back on the horse and get ready for Saturday. We have a shot to win a league title even though we have this loss. If we get Gibsonburg, we're all in the same boat." CALVERT (10-1, 7-1)Kaleigh Concepcion 2 0-0 5, Alyssa Rishty 7 1-1 16, Megan Rombach 2 0-2 4, Carleigh Meier 4 0-0 8, Kate Coleman 4 2-2 13. TOTALS 19 3-5 46DANBURY (10-2, 7-1)Thea Brickner 3 1-2 8, Maci Brown 4 0-0 9, Mia McDonald 2 2-4 6, Ella McDonald 2 1-3 6, Katelynne Bergman 1 1-2 3, Lauren Bergman 1 2-4 4. TOTALS 13 7-15 36Calvert 11 11 11 13 — 46Danbury 9 10 5 12 — 36Three-point goals: Calvert 5 (Coleman 3, Concepcion, Rishty); Danbury 3 (Brickner, Brown, E. McDonald)