A dominant third quarter paved the way for a 55-42 CNE victory over Felicity-Franklin on Thursday, November 29.
The Lady Rockets out-scored the Lady Cardinals 17-3 in the period to clinch the program’s first win under new head coach Doug Portmann.
“It feels awesome,” Portmann said. “The girls have been working harder and harder every week, and to finally get that out there and get a victory under their belt, I think that’s going to help propel us forward.”
Felicity kept things close early on, trailing 11-10 at the end of one period. Head coach Kerry Stamper said the team played well in that quarter, but fatigue caught up with them eventually.
“With only eight players, practice is a little rough,” Stamper said. “We don’t get to scrimmage or go full court. I knew we’d be out of gas quick. I was impressed with the first quarter, we just couldn’t keep up with them in the second and we had just too many turnovers. Cut those back and get some rebounds and we were right back in it.”
The Lady Rockets out-scored Felicity 19-10 in the second quarter, aided by seven points from MaKayla Drewry. CNE led 30-20 at halftime.
It was Natalie Bockmann’s turn to lead in the third quarter. Bockman scored six of the team’s 17 points in the period, and CNE held the Lady Cardinals to just three points to pull away for good.
Portmann said he’s switching up the team’s defensive style this season, and when they execute correctly dominant defensive quarters are possible.
“We were typically a 2-3 zone team the last few years,” Portmann said. “I’m changing everything they’ve done, and now we’re coming into a man-to-man. We go through growing pains, like with everything else, but now that the girls are now getting into the right positions, it’s really helping us out defensively.”
Felicity didn’t go away quietly. Jordan Lowe scored nine points in the fourth period for the Lady Cardinals before exiting with an injury. Stamper said Lowe is capable of offensive outbursts like that.
“She’s usually a good quick shot, but when she can slow down, take her time and put it up she can get those in,” Stamper said. “Running our offense gave her that opportunity.”
Stamper said in the preseason that she wanted the team to work on taking quicker shots, which they did against the Lady Rockets.
“Sometimes, maybe too quick,” Stamper said. “We need to run our offense a little bit more, slow down and relax. This was our first game, our game earlier this week got cancelled. I think they were a little bit anxious and nervous. The last quarter, I think they started to slow down a little bit and run a play and we were getting better looks.”
Felicity’s Madison Baird led all scorers with 17 points. Lowe finished with 9, as did Taylor McElfresh. Madison Moore had 6 for Felicity.
For CNE, Bockman finished with 12 and Drewry 14. Jillian Kirby added 10, and Olivia Bricker chipped in six.
Overall, CNE had eight different players score on offense, but there are still some things that need to be worked on, according to Portmann.
“We’ve got to clean up our mistakes,” Portmann said. “We did a good job in certain offenses. It’s just a matter of them getting comfortable every game. Each offense we run, you have to look for the cutters. They’re starting to get that down. Through the year, as it becomes second nature to them, I think our offense will start to get better.”
The Lady Rockets hit the road for their next contest. The team travels to Blanchester on Thursday, December 6 before returning home to take on Bethel-Tate on December 10.
Felicity travels to Bethel-Tate on December 6 in the first of three straight road games. The team returns home December 17.