Glen Este was able to close out 2011 in style as the Lady Trojans took advantage of full-court pressure and Aiken turnovers to defeat the Lady Falcons on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 50-27.

With little information about their opponents going into the game, Glen Este opened in a two-three zone in efforts of trying to see what a taller Aiken squad would try to do on offense.

“We didn’t really know what to expect early on because of their size,” Trojans head coach Jeff Click said. “We came out in a zone to feel them out. We haven’t seen them play, then we changed it up and went to a full-court man to try to get it moving up-and-down.”

Aiken opened in a similar two-three zone, which Click found interesting, forcing the Lady Trojans to settle for outside jump shots.

“Early on, we were just standing around and jacking up threes,” Click said. “We were settling for passing the ball around the perimeter… we need to react to the defense and make good decisions. I want us to attack and we weren’t attacking the pressure.”

Even with the slow start, the Glen Este pressure kept Aiken close, swapping the lead four times in the opening quarter.

Junior forward Katie Gaskill started the charge for the Lady Trojans with a basket, plus the foul after Glen Este had missed their first five three-point attempts.

As the Lady Trojans got more comfortable with the Aiken defense, things started to open up, passes found open shooters and some entry passes into the post turned into close-range jump shots.

With the Lady Falcons collapsing on the passes into the high post, the Lady Trojans’ sharp-shooter, Hannah Carson got on track, hitting three-of-five threes on kick-out passes to give Glen Este a bit of a cushion.

Gaskill hoisted a 30-footer with three seconds remaining in the first quarter, banking it in to give the Lady Trojans a 15-6 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, Glen Este was able to continue forcing turnovers with their press. In what started out as light pressure, forcing the Lady Falcons to do some work to get up the court, turned into a more high-octane trapping press that Aiken did not handle well.

“(The press) was able to get us going a little bit,” Click said.

As Aiken continued to play zone on the defensive end, their size advantage was nullified as they had trouble finding someone to put a body on when a shot went up.

“They’re playing a zone, so they don’t have block-out responsibilities, so we have to go rebound the ball,” Click said. “Overall, we don’t that very well. At halftime, we said we have to go get it. It’s just an attitude and we had to just get it.”

As the half winded down, the game got into a groove with the teams trading baskets. When the buzzer sounded, Glen Este had stretched their lead to 27-16.

The third quarter was more of the same as the Lady Trojans stayed in their full-court press, forcing some turnovers and getting easy baskets. The Glen Este defense hung tough, as well, giving up just six points in the quarter for the second time in the game.

“The difference between Aiken and other teams we play is that they are pretty good defensively and they play hard, but they’re not as talented offensively as some of the other teams that we play,” Click said.

Sophomore Ashley Keith played a key role in putting the game away for the Lady Trojans in the third quarter. The 5-foot-5 point guard scored nine of her 12 points in the frame as Glen Este opened up a 20-point lead, 42-22.

“Ashley’s playing point guard and she’s grown into that role,” Click said. “It’s helped us be a better team with Ashley being able to do that.”

Aside from Keith, it was once again Carson who led the team in scoring, hitting five shots from deep to have a game-high 15 points, but Click believes that total should have been a little higher

“She shouldn’t miss any shots,” Click said half jokingly, but half seriously. “She has a good shot and when she’s able to get her feet set, I honestly believe that it’s going to go in. I thought she should have made a couple more.”

Carson made enough, however, to lead the Lady Trojans to their fifth win of the season. Aiken fell to 3-6.

Glen Este was back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 after having a week off for the holidays. Currently, the Lady Trojans sit at sixth in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference East Division.

Glen Este (5-4) – Gaskill 2 2 7, Singleton 2 0 4, Bogan 1 1 3, Keith 4 2 12, Hall 2 1 5, Carson 5 0 15, Brenes 1 2 4. Totals: 16 8 50
Aiken (3-6) – Borgemenke 1 0 2, Howard 1 0 2, Falls 2 1 5, Stokes 1 0 2, Mackey 1 0 2, Gooden 3 1 7, Sebilla 2 0 4, Morris 1 1 3. Totals: 12 3 27.
Halftime: Glen Este 27-16. 3-pointers G 8 (Carson 5, Keith 2, Gaskill); A none.