Lady Commodores march past B-C, 48-27
Beth-Center's Kinlee Whited (33) looks for an opening as Frazier's Jovanna Isaac (5) defends during Thursday's game at Frazier High School.
Holly Tonini
Frazier’s Alena Blaszczak (right) defends against Beth-Center’s Frankie Pryor during their game Thursday at Frazier High School.
Frazier's Brooke Poling (4) makes a layup around Beth-Center's Mary Gustovich (4) dirung Thursday's game at Frazier High School.
Frazier’s Alena Blaszczak (10) dribbles past Beth Center’s Mary Gustovich during Thursday’s game at Frazier High School.
Holly Tonini
Frazier's Emily Marshall (23) tries to dribble around Beth-Center's Nicole White during their game Thursday at Frazier High School.
PERRYOPOLIS — The Frazier Lady Commodores defeated the Lady Bulldogs of Beth-Center, 48-27, Thursday night in a Section 2-AA girls basketball battle.
The Lady Commodores got off to a strong start, shutting out the Bulldogs in the first quarter to run away with the win.
Frazier freshman point guard Brooke Poling led the Commodores (2-1, 4-3) with a game-high 18 points. Teammate Alena Blaszczak also reached double figures with 12.
For the Lady Bulldogs (0-2, 2-3), Kinlee Whited came on late, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 13.
“I’m definitely pleased with our effort tonight,” Frazier’s Ken Poling said. “We had a great practice Wednesday and it carried over to tonight. The girls really pulled together as a team tonight.”
Frazier raced out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter with Brooke Poling leading the charge with six.
Beth-Center did not pick up its first points until the 5:30 mark of the second quarter on a free throw. The Lady Bulldogs were held to just four points in the quarter while Frazier added 12 more, getting six from Poling and four from Emily Marshall to take a 24-4 lead at the half.
“Frazier outplayed us tonight and deserved to win this game,” B-C’s Stephen Beyer said. “We made some adjustments at halftime that helped to settle us down in the second half. We started to get some shots and pick up some points in the second half but the deficit was too much to overcome.”
Whited scored for the Lady Bulldogs to open the second half, but Frazier countered that, going on a 10-0 run, getting three straight baskets from Poling, a pair of free throws from Blaszczak and a basket from Marshall to make the score 34-6.
Mary Gustovich canned a three for the Bulldogs, but Blaszczak offset that with a three of her own. Nicole White picked up two quick buckets for the Bulldogs late in the third but Frazier took a commanding 37-13 lead into the fourth.
“We’re young with only one senior on the team but that’s no excuse,” Beyer said. “We’ve got to start executing better on the offensive end.”
Beth-Center started the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run on baskets from Whited, Gustovich and Destinee Irey. Frazier responded with an 11-2 run, getting a pair of free throws from Hannah Fell, five points from Blaszczak and four more from Jovanna Issac to open up a 48-21 lead before clearing the bench.
“Beth-Center is a good team but we just played well tonight,” Ken Poling said. “We’ve got to work together to be successful. No one player can carry this team. It’s going to take a commitment from all the girls. It’s still a work in progress.”