By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
MONROE – The Monroe girls basketball team hung with Snohomish for a while before things got ugly for the Bearcats.
Really ugly.
In the Panthers’ 58-32 Western Conference North Division victory, the Bearcats starting lineup that includes two freshman and two sophomores proved for a half they could handle Snohomish.
Then came that pesky second half.
The Panthers outscored Monroe 19-3 in the third quarter and 42-11 during the final 2 1/2quarters of a game played at Monroe Junior High School.
“We just lost our intensity,” said Monroe sophomore point guard Chelsea Zimmerman, who scored eight points while playing with knee and back injuries. “We wanted to pick it up, but we just couldn’t. We weren’t afraid of them. We respected them, but we just lost our focus.”
The Panthers, who won their fifth straight, improved to 7-1 in the division and 10-2 overall. Snohomish has held its last six opponents to an average of 32.8 points per game.
Monroe, which had won four of six games prior to Wednesday, fell to 5-3, 6-6.
The Panthers trailed 14-9 after the first quarter and 21-16 in the middle of the second before taking control of the game.
Snohomish coach Ken Roberts claimed not to have given the mother of all halftime speeches. After watching his team commit 18 first-half turnovers, he simply told his team to get the ball under control.
“He just told us to go out and play to our potential,” said senior guard Beth Krause, who scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half. “We had the momentum and we just wanted to go out and take it to them.”
Boy, did they ever.
The Panthers held a precarious 26-22 halftime lead, but things quickly changed. Krause hit a jump shot and scored on two easy layups as part of a 9-0 run during the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Panthers dismantled the Bearcats’ pressing defense with long passes down the court for several uncontested baskets.
“In the second half, they hit three baskets in about a minute and suddenly it’s a 10-point game,” Monroe coach Alan Dickson said. “We started playing conservative and that’s not our game.”
The story of the first half was turnovers.
There were 31 of them in 16 first-half minutes.
Despite Snohomish giving it away 18 times, the Panthers closed out the first half with a 10-1 run to take a 26-22 halftime lead.
“Our defense was there in the first half,” said Snohomish senior forward Anne Bailey, who contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds. “We just needed to execute better on offense. We played awesome as a team in the second half.”
Monroe (5-3, 6-6) took advantage of Snohomish’s 12 turnovers in the game’s first seven minutes to take a 14-9 lead.
Karissa Barnes kept Monroe close in the first half with a strong effort on both ends of the floor. The 5-11 junior center scored seven points and pulled down four rebounds in the half. She finished the game with team highs of nine points and nine rebounds. Fellow post player Tianna Moriarty grabbed six of her seven rebounds in the first half.
Snohomish point guard Elyse Barstow added five points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists. She was often responsible for breaking Monroe’s pressure and delivering the ball to open teammates down the court.
“We picked up our defense in the second half and got some easy baskets off transition,” Roberts said. “That second half was probably one of our better halves.”
Snohomish_Barstow 5, Cornwell 2, Moore 6, Angell 5, Krause 13, Kling 8, Thompson 5, Bailey 10, Snowden 4. Monroe_Bunge 2, Kay. Kolrud 1, Zimmerman 8, Kac. Kolrud 4, Herman 2, Muhammad 3, Moriarty 3, Barnes 9. 3-point goals-Barstow 1, Angell 1, Zimmerman 1, Muhammad 1. JV score-Snohomish 55, Monroe 20. Records-Snohomish 7-1 in division, 10-2 overall. Monroe 5-3, 6-6.
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