Free throws add up in California victory
California’s Love Porter attempts a shot Monday night after driving past Beth-Center’s Kennedy Kuhns (13).
California’s Bailey Vig is defended by Beth-Center’s Kinlee Whited during the first quarter Monday night.
Beth-Center’s Kinlee Whited is defended by California’s Ina Helmick during the second quarter Monday night.
Beth-Center’s Nicole White looks to make a pass while being defended by California’s Love Porter during the second quarter Monday night.
CALIFORNIA – When California High School guard Bailey Vig steps to the foul line in a pressure-packed situation, she doesn’t think about the impact of the free throw, the game situation or those in the bleachers watching.
She instead channels her inner confidence developed in practice and the message drilled into the Trojans day after day by head coach Chris Minerd.
“Our coaches always say that free throws win games,” Vig said. “We constantly focus on them in practice.”
That practice paid off for Vig as she went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:52 – California made all 10 of its free throws in the final two minutes – as the Trojans held off Beth-Center 37-34 in a battle of teams jostling for playoff spots in Section 3-AA Monday night.
“We’ve been off and on, but for the most part Bailey, Lové (Porter) and Grace (Roberts) have a good percentage,” Minerd said about his team’s success at the foul line.
“We were up 29-26, got a (defensive) stop and I told them on the bench that if we make our free throws then we’re going to win. They listened.”
California (8-2, 11-4), which kept alive its section title hopes, made 12 of its 14 free throws on the night and sits alone in second place after a Greensburg Central Catholic loss. The Trojans needed almost every free throw in the final minutes as Beth-Center refused to go away.
The Bulldogs’ Kinlee Whited connected on a three-pointer with one minute remaining to cut the deficit to two points, 31-29, the closest the game was since early in the third quarter.
Vig immediately answered after being fouled and made both ends of a one-and-one.
The Bulldogs’ Nicole White again cut the deficit to two on a layup with 40 seconds remaining, which was answered by Porter’s two free throws.
“Beth-Center came down a couple of times and kept the pressure on,” Minerd said. “I was proud of how our girls handled it. When you can go 10-for-10 (from the foul line) milking the clock that’s huge.”
A sloppy first half was highlighted by defensive stops, which is to be expected for California and Beth-Center (6-5, 10-7). Neither team has managed 40 points in the three matchups since they were moved into the same section. The first half ended tied at 10-10.
“We said before the game that it was going to be in the 30s again,” Beth-Center coach Stephen Beyer said. “We had to make sure that we controlled our turnovers. I thought turnovers really hurt us. We also had a couple of defensive breakdowns and they capitalized on them.”
A simple switch of moving Vig to a forward position rather than staying near the three-point arc in the Trojans’ offense helped California gain an advantage in the third quarter. Vig scored nine of the Trojans’ 11 points in the quarter as they used a 9-3 run to lead 21-14.
Vig scored eight points in the fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 21.
“We had a week off,” Minerd said. “That’s what I was a little worried about. Beth-Center is a great defensive team. They jammed up the middle, so we couldn’t get any penetration. We then tend to throw the ball around the perimeter and look for the outside shot too much. The second half we made a few adjustments to get Bailey in the paint instead of on the win. She had to work for all the points she got tonight.”
The lone form of consistency Beth-Center found offensively was Kinlee Whited, who scored a team-high 18 points. No other Bulldog scored more than six points. Whited, who only scored four points in another Trojans’ victory over Beth-Center Jan. 4, had 16 of her 18 points in the second half.
Beth-Center falls to fifth place after Frazier’s win over the Centurions.
“It’s kind of like playing yourself,” Minerd said of playing Beth-Center. “We are very similar and both good defensive teams. They even run the same offense that we run, so it’s a little bit easier to get familiar with.”