McHENRY — No. 2 Southern’s defense shut down James Wood on Friday, leading the Rams to a 49-33 win in the inaugural Deep Creek Lake Holiday Classic at Garrett College.
“A win’s a win at the end of the day,” Southern head coach Landon Todd said. “I’d like for it to look a little prettier than what it did.”
It wasn’t the best offensive game for the Rams (6-1), shooting below 40% from the field as a team, but the defense dominated against the Colonels (4-7).
The game started with a slow pace, unintentional from Southern.
“It was not intentional, we typically go pretty deep on the bench so we don’t like to play slow,” Todd said. “We like to push the pace, test other team’s benches. We didn’t mean to come out slow, that’s for sure.”
One factor was turnovers by the Rams. Southern committed seven in the first quarter compared to three by James Wood.
However, on four steals by the Colonels’ defense, none resulted in points on the other end.
“We’ve got the turnover bug the entire season,” Todd said. “I haven’t figured out how to get rid of it, but we’re trying to.”
Southern picked up the tempo midway through and took a 9-5 lead on a 3-pointer by Miranda Martin off a Gabbi Berry assist. Berry scored five points with four assists.
Kelsie Ward scored on a putback to extend the Rams lead to 11-5 at the end of the quarter. It was her only score of the game, but she also had four assists, a steal and a block.
Southern dominated the second quarter, outscoring James Wood 17-3.
“That’s the crux that we stand our ground on is our defense,” Todd said. “We pride ourselves on getting stops, turning the other team over. Most games we can at least stay in because if our offense isn’t good, our defense keeps us in it.”
The Rams opened the quarter with eight unanswered points.
Carly Wilt led Southern with a pair of layups and a block during the run. She scored back-to-back buckets for the Rams including an and-one jumper to extend the lead to 19-5.
Wilt led the Rams with 12 points, adding a block and a steal.
“Carly stepped up there in the fourth quarter,” Todd said. “She started out rough, but she turned it around late. She’s our go-to, she’s got the most experience and that’s the girl that needs to step up.”
The Colonels broke its scoring drought with 2:41 left in the first half on a layup by Mia Fritz off a Brooklyn Medina assist.
Aubrey Nail hit a free throw for James Wood with 2:08 left that ended up being the Colonels’ final point of the half.
Southern ended the half with nine unanswered points and led 28-8 at halftime.
The Rams shot 13 of 30 (43%) from the field in the first half. It included going 2 of 7 (29%) from deep.
“Despite missing shot after shot, the girls didn’t stop shooting,” Todd said. “Credit to them, they kept their confidence and still got their shots when they were open. Consistently didn’t make them, but you’re gonna have games like that.”
Steals were a common theme for the Rams defense, recording six in the first half.
“We pride ourselves on getting points off turnovers,” Todd said. “You don’t get those points if you don’t turn the other team over. We try and get up in passing lanes, get in trap situations. Try to create as many turnovers as we can.”
The Rams defense only allowed one made field goal in the second quarter. They also forced nine turnovers while only committing three.
In the first half, James Wood really struggled to shoot. The Colonels shot 3 of 24 from the field (12%) and missed all eight 3-pointers.
In the third quarter, James Wood found some offensive rhythm. Josie Russell led the Colonels with five points in the opening minutes including a pair of layups. She finished with a game-high 13 points and a block.
“Credit to James Wood, they started pounding the ball into the high post,” Todd said. “Number 30 (Russell), she’s got four or five inches on whatever girl who’s guarding her. They started to take advantage of that.”
After not scoring in the first half, Medina scored 10 points in the second half. She scored seven in the fourth quarter and added two assists and a steal in the game.
James Wood opened the half with eight unanswered points. Southern responded with a 7-3 run to end the quarter up 35-19.
Ashlyn Leader recorded a pair of steals and hit a jumper for the Rams during the run. She finished with eight points with five steals.
“She’s struggled of late, just a confidence thing in her own head,” Todd said. “But today, as soon as I went in I told her, that’s the best game I’ve seen her play in a while. I was proud of her.”
Each team scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
This is the first year of the Deep Creek Holiday Classic. All of the proceeds benefit the Southern girl’s basketball program.
“This is a whole different scale,” Todd said in comparing playing at Garrett College to Ram Arena. “It’s cool for the girls to not only play here, but this tournament’s for them. The money goes to them. I don’t think the girls take that step back and realize this is all for them.”
Southern played Trinity on Saturday on the final day of the showcase. The Rams will then face Frankfort on the road on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.