After earning a big one point win recently, Bethel girls’ basketball coach Mark Mays stated it was about the same time last year that the Bees earned a close win, which helped propel them to a better ending to the season.
“I am seeing the exact same thing it all has to do with the chemistry and where the kids think they are,: Bethel coach Mark Mays. “They have shown a lot of progress. At one point against Ansonia (a one-point win last week for the Bees), we were feeling like we can play and it has carried over with confidence factor”
Last week, the Bees opened up a close game at halftime, and rolled to a 56-29 win over Northeastern to earn their third win of the season.
“We did what we had to do” Mays said. “They have a great player (Suchland) who is their floor leader and go to person. She had 32 against us. We put Kayla (Grable) on her in the second half and it caused her to do some different things. Kayla did a good job with her, we knew we had to stop her after halftime”
In the first half, Bethel was playing a faster tempo and it kept them in control to a 22-17 lead at the half.
“We are trying to learn the fast paced game and we did a better job,” Mays said. “We were getting the ball up the floor and talking advantage of the transition game.”
Mays praised the work of Alaina Hawthorn in the first half to help them gain the lead.
“Alaina went off on them, and for her height, she can do a lot of things,” Mays said.
“In the second half, we had Sarah Swisher, Morgan Crase and Becky Schweiterman produce for us,” Mays said. “We were more comfortable and running the offense. We started to separate things.”
Everyone played in the game for Bethel, and eight people scored.
“That is a big thing for us,” Mays said, stating that Hawthorn had 23, Crase 11 and Schweiterman 9.
“I have been happy how well Morgan has played for us, her confidence is really high now,” Mays said.
“It was two wins in a row for us, and that’s the first time this year. We need to just play consistent basketball, stay with what we do and get better. We have been playing solid defense and we are looking for turnovers to capitalize on.”
“Scoring wise, we are averaging mid 40s which is more than what we have done in a while. If we still play good defense we have a chance. We just have to focus on each half. In the past we have had one bad quarter that would determine the game. We haven’t had that in the last two games.”
Bethel plays at Miami East tomorrow and hosts Dayton Christian on Saturday.