Blue Dons Ground Rockets
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WEIRTON -- The Madonna girls' basketball team got off to a slow start, but made a first-quarter run to take the lead and never looked back in a 52-43 win over Conotton Valley on Wednesday night inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium.
In winning its seventh game in eight starts, Rodney Boniti's club controlled the backboards with juniors Jazzy Melnyk and Alaina Moore pulling down 16 and 13 rebounds, respectively. Both finished the game with double-doubles. Melnyk led all scorers with 24 points and Moore added 13.
"I don't know if I would consider anything we did great," an unhappy Boniti said. "I don't know if I would consider anything we did good. Thank God we played a team that couldn't hit a bucket and thank God we played a team that had a problem moving the ball.
"We had mental breakdowns.
"We had defensive breakdowns. I'm guessing we probably had 30 turnovers (Madonna had 22 turnovers) against a team that played a zone defense with no press. Totally unacceptable ball movements so we're lucky to walk out of here with a win."
Despite not playing well in the coach's eyes, the Dons finished the first quarter with an 11-4 run to capture a 17-9 lead they never relinquished. The Rockets closed the deficit by two in the second quarter and trailed 28-22 at the intermission.
Melnyk was on fire in the first half, scoring 14 of her points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Conotton Valley's Sydney Lyon drained a 3-pointer to open the second half to narrow the Madonna lead to 28-25, but that was as close as it got.
"We have a fireball team this year, but unfortunately we are small in numbers," Rockets (3-7) coach Jennifer Hiles said. "We don't have a lot of setting opportunities and the girls have to spend a lot of energy. When that happens, there is a lag in our defense and we can't get back into the swing of things.
"But I am so proud of the way they played with grit and determination to stay in the game. Every time we began to slip further behind I am so proud of the way they found a way to get back into the game. We had many opportunities but, unfortunately, the shots didn't fall for us."
Lyons led Conotton Valley scoring with 22 points. along with five rebounds and two steals. Emily Siedel followed with 7 points and was her team's leading rebounder with six boards.
Madonna gets right back onto the hardwood today with a trip to Bridgeport.