Big Foot boys open season with a win
By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
It’s still a small sample size, but there’s a lot to like for Big Foot girls basketball coach Mike Dowden when it comes to how his team is playing.
And the numbers prove it.
Big Foot rolled to a 44-30 Rock Valley Conference victory over visiting Jefferson on Nov. 30 to improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
The Chiefs led 21-13 at halftime and added to their lead in the final 20 minutes to close out the win.
As oftentimes is the case, it has been the Chiefs’ defense that has sparked their offense early in the season, Dowden said.
“We played solid defense (against Jefferson) and rebounded well,” he said. “Our game is all about getting stops on defense and forcing teams to play at our tempo.
“We have had a lot of games where our press has created many offensive opportunities for us, but we did not get that in the Jefferson game. However, we did create an advantage by forcing them to work to get the ball across half court. Just because the press doesn’t create scoring opportunities doesn’t mean it isn’t effective.”
Boys edge Brodhead
The Big Foot boys opened their season with a 59-56 win Nov. 29 at Brodhead.
Big Foot fell behind by seven points at halftime, but outscored the Cardinals by 10 in the second half to complete the rally.
Logan Eischeid led the Chiefs with 25 points, followed by A.J. Courier with 14 and Max Hildebrandt with 11.
Read more local sports coverage in the Dec. 7 Times/Reporter.
