“My goal when I’m on the fast break is make someone guard me and someone’s going to be open eventually because not many teams are fast enough,” she said. “I just feel like I see the court really well.”
The Golden Eagles’ homecourt was full of openings Wednesday night in a 64-40 victory over Miamisburg of the Greater Western Ohio Conference. Griffin led unbeaten Bellbrook (10-0) with 15 points and nine assists.
“Kelley is having a heck of a year,” Bellbrook coach Jason Tincher said. “She’s our engine, and she finds people. She’s got her head up, and that’s been key for us.”
The first half was 16 minutes of who the Eagles want to be. Starting with strong defense that led to rebounds and turnovers and quickly to points.
“They’re not easy to turn over,” Tincher said. “They’ve got good guard play.”
The Eagles’ transition offense began taking control late in the first quarter when Meyer made two 3-pointers to spark a run to an 18-13 lead. The transition offense continued and built the lead to 35-19 at halftime.
The Eagles are faster this year, and they have proved with wins over Beavercreek (7-3), Wayne (3-8) and Miamisburg (7-4) that it helps them compete better at the Division I level. They moved up to DI in the 2019-20 season and were eliminated from the tournament the past two seasons by Miamisburg.
Tincher likes the way his team’s faster pace works in contrast to the more physical and aggressive defenses his team faces against GWOC teams. The Eagles will also play Springboro and Northmont this season.
“That’s what we see in the tournament now being DI,” Tincher said. “So we don’t want it to slow down, plus we get good crowds here and they don’t want to sit and watch somebody throw it around forever. They would rather see us get up and down. It’s a more exciting style to watch, and the girls like playing that way.”
The Eagles mostly play Division II and III teams in the Southwestern Buckeye League. So defeating Division I teams will help them when coaches vote on tournament seedings.
“We’re trying to build up that reputation,” Tincher said. “We have to play them to earn each other’s respect that way. It’s nice to get those DI wins.”
Scohy scored 21 points after missing most of the first quarter with two early fouls. Ashley Frantz also went to the bench with two fouls. But when Dreann Pryce, the team’s only senior, and freshman Ella Stillings came off the bench the Eagles got faster.
“They’re probably two of the fastest people I’ve ever seen,” Griffin said. “Everyone’s on board with the way we play, and I personally love playing fast.”
When the Eagles had to run half-court offense, they were patient and just as effective.
“I’m just so proud of how they share the ball,” Tincher said. “All we were doing was running a dribble-drive offense and we were just getting downhill on them. Either we got to the hoop, or we found the open girl when they helped. It was fun to watch. I didn’t call much.”
Miamisburg got 17 points from GWOC leading scorer Anna Long. But the Vikings were without Addison Frymoyer, who averages 10.6 points a game and shoots 48.3% from three-point range.
“Without her in the lineup it really puts more pressure on Long and (Alley) Haas,” Tincher said.
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