Cats caged by Scottsburg

Saturday night in Ramsey marked the first time in four years and 73 games that North Harrison’s girls varsity basketball lineup did not include Tara Miller’s name.
Miller, the Lady Cats’ star guard who tore her anterior cruciate ligament early last week in a win over Crawford County, was reduced to being a fourth assistant coach for North in its Mid-Southern Conference opener against Scottsburg.
The Lady Cats could have used her.
Powered by six triples and 20 points from Stephanie Bridgewater and three more treys and 13 points from Kristin Edwards, the Warriorettes looked like they were in mid-season form in a 58-30 blowout.
The Lady Cats attempted only 21 shots (just two three-pointers) and had nine field goals in their worst offensive output in at least two decades.
As a team, North committed 29 turnovers.
‘I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know,’ North Harrison coach Missy Voyles said about her team. ‘I know what their weaknesses are. They just didn’t have any patience. They’re wanting to come down and do something great in one pass, and that’s not going to happen. They need some confidence, and right now they lack that.’
Lady Cat senior guard Cassie Milburn, suffering the effects of a brown recluse spider bite, kicked off the game with a 3-pointer that was answered at the other end by a trey from Edwards.
Buckets by North’s Rachel Cannon and Amanda Hardin over the next 50 seconds gave the hosts a 7-3 lead and prompted an early timeout by Scottsburg coach Randy Edwards.
After that, the Wahoo Crew went on a rampage.
Edwards and Bridgewater set the tone for the game as each connected on a pair of three-pointers for a 15-7 Scottsburg lead.
‘For some reason, we kept wanting to lose them,’ Voyles said. ‘That’s the two people I said, ‘Don’t let them shoot.’ They had nine three’s between them. It was like they were playing a game of H-O-R-S-E.’
For the next 20 minutes ‘ from the first to the third quarter ‘ North Harrison was held to just one field goal and was outscored 39-12.
A deuce by Stefany Jaso to close out the first quarter and free throws by Morgan Carr and Amanda Hardin turned out to be the only offense North could muster during the slide.
The Lady Cats trailed by six at the first stop (15-9), 16 at intermission (29-13, and 21 (42-21) after three periods.
The Warriorettes (2-1, 1-0 M.S.C.) outscored the hosts in the final period, 16-9, to produce the victory.
Amazingly, North Harrison attempted only 21 shots in the game and just nine in the second half. Coupled with 29 turnovers, it was a recipe for disaster.
‘Even if we hit them all, we still have only 44 points, not counting the threes,’ Voyles explained. ‘We’ve got to get the ball down the floor and get a good shot off. At this point, we’re going to work on getting down the floor and getting a shot off. We’ll worry about what’s good, later.’
Carr and Hardin each paced North with six points apiece. Milburn and Cannon both had five, with two points each coming from Jaso, Jessica Mosier, Rachel Adams and Leigha Bowyer.
‘(Milburn) had to go get a shot yesterday and she’s not feeling real well. It’s too bad it didn’t do for her what it did for Spiderman,’ Voyles quipped.
Adams, a sophomore, and freshman Katie Voyles each saw plenty of action in the blowout.
‘My guards got tired so we didn’t have much of a choice,’ Voyles said. ‘I had to throw somebody to the wolves. By committee of my staff, those were the two we decided to throw out there first. They didn’t do too bad. They got knocked around a little bit, but they didn’t do any worse than anybody else on the floor. They held their own. They made a couple of good passes and did a couple of good things.’
The night wasn’t a total loss for the Lady Cats as they outrebounded Scottsburg, 25-22.
The Warriorettes shot 22 of 52, including 9-19 beyond the arc, and went 5-8 at the foul line.
Voyles said her team needs time to readjust and get used to their new roles.
‘We’re not going to turn this around real quick. It’s going to take a while to figure out what to do without (Miller). It would be stupid to think otherwise. I told them my goal was to see a little team chemistry by Christmas.’