Whited lifts Beth-Center over JM girls
FREDERICKTOWN — Junior Kinlee Whited scored a game-high 20 points to lead host Beth-Center to a 46-28 non-section win over Jefferson-Morgan Tuesday night.
Whited came up with steals on three straight J-M possessions early in the fourth quarter to key a 9-0 Beth-Center run, which turned a 10-point game into a rout.
“She really stepped her game up for us tonight,” B-C coach Steve Beyer said.
Junior Mary Gustovich added 10 points for Beth-Center, which improved to 3-1.
The Lady Bulldogs return to Section 2-AA play Thursday with a key early-season matchup vs. Carmichaels.
“We’re not where we want to be, but we can really build on this game,” Beyer said.
Jefferson-Morgan (3-4) started off well enough and led 9-8 after one quarter behind Anna Mattish’s five points.
But turnovers and a cold-shooting night were too much for the Lady Rockets to overcome.
Beth-Center took the lead for good early in the second quarter on a pair of Whited free throws, and the Lady Bulldogs outscored J-M, 14-4, in the period.
Unofficially, Jefferson-Morgan committed 28 turnovers.
“Our strength is our guards and our forwards are still developing,” J-M coach Chris Niemiec said. “Our forwards are pretty young and they don’t always know to come back to the ball and help out.”
Freshman Autumn Gustovich led Jefferson-Morgan with eight points, and senior Jamie Lawrence chipped in seven.
The Lady Rockets trailed 22-13 at halftime, but scored early in the third quarter to cut the deficit to seven points.
Beth-Center responded with a 6-0 run, however, and the Lady Bulldogs never led by less than 10 points the rest of the game.
“Our chemistry is not where we want it to be, but we’re still learning and we’re playing a lot of freshmen,” Beyer said. “We talked a lot before the game about our defense. We know our offense comes from our defense and we really wanted to come out and focus on that.”