Jan 11, 2011 By Adam Brewer For The 4 min read

CARMICHAELS – Some basketball purists say that defense wins games and championships, and that point couldn’t be more relevant in Monday’s girls basketball Section 3-A slugfest, as Carmichaels was able to make more defensive stops down the stretch and outlasted Jefferson-Morgan to the tune of a 29-28 victory.

With the win, the Lady Mikes (6-5, 2-2) snap a three-game losing streak and now pulls even in section play.

“This was a big game for us,” Carmichaels coach Jim Lane said. “We were on a bit of a losing streak, and to be beat a rival at home is huge for our confidence. We know that J-M has come a long way and this game could end up being for a playoff spot. I’m proud of my girls and how we hung on at the end with our defense.”

“Give a lot of credit to J-M and their coaching staff, they are going in the right direction and are playing hard. You can’t get any closer than a one-point game, and when we go to their place, it should be tough.”

The Lady Rockets (4-7, 2-2) battled to the end, but saw their losing streak reach four games.

“I think our team played great,” J-M coach Ellen Hildebrand said. “I think them getting into the one-in-one early on helped them out. We just needed a basket late, and just couldn’t come up with it. We are young, and I think we showed tremendous effort. They still have to come to our place to play one more.”

J-M’s Mariah Hildebrand scored the game’s first points with a mid-range jumper, but Carmichaels rattled off eight straight points, courtesy of two threes by Amanda Brown and a lay-up by Morgan Berardi.

With less than three minutes left in the opening quarter, Hildebrand nailed a shot from beyond the arc to trim the Lady Mikes’ lead to 10-7, but Carmichaels’ Anna Cree added three free throws to extend the lead to 13-7.

In the second quarter, the Lady Rockets started out on a 7-2 spree, including a three-pointer by Nicole Shultz that brought the deficit to 15-14. Carmichaels’ Berardi and Cree put in baskets to end the period for a 19-16 halftime lead.

J-M grabbed its second lead of the game, 23-21, after a basket by Ashley Faddis with 3:41 left. The Lady Rockets outscored their rival by a 10-6 margin in the frame and held a 26-25 lead going into the fourth.

“I think our man-to-man (defense) played well in that second half,” Hildebrand said. “We used zone in the first half. And when one of our starters got into foul trouble, we kind of had to switch some things up and went to man. The guard play is good on both teams, and we cut down on turnovers and limit their transition points.”

The defenses kicked it up a notch in the fourth quarter, as the teams combined for six points. Carmichaels’ Erica Britner scored the first basket in the final frame that gave the Lady Mikes a 27-26 lead.

With five minutes left, Brown scored what proved to be the game’s final basket. The Lady Rockets only had two points in the fourth, both coming from the charity stripe, with the last being a free throw by Faddis with 1:12 left.

Cree tallied nine points for Carmichaels, followed by Brown’s eight and Berardi’s six. Britner contributed four points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

For J-M, Hildebrand finished with a game-high 12 points, as Faddis added six and Shultz had five.

“It was a tough game,” Lane said. “Our girls played well, and the crowd was into it. You got to protect your home floor. Erica is our backline on defense and we take chances with our guards on defense for steals. She’s reliable and is a leader. Amanda doesn’t play like a freshman anymore and really showed a lot of confidence out there.”