LOWER MORELAND >> Teams that face Phil-Mont Christian Academy know the senior duo of Keyen Green and Tracey Goodman are going to score points and grab a lot of rebounds between them.
Some nights, the pair of Division I recruits will do so at a level above their usual standard. Beating the Falcons on one of those nights takes a top-tier performance to match it. That entails making open shots, not turning the ball over and giving up as few putback chances as possible.
Lower Moreland tried, but couldn’t come up with enough answers Tuesday afternoon as Green and Goodman powered Phil-Mont to a 59-36 road win.
Phil-Mont Christian’s Kayla Griffin sends up a shot past Lower Moreland’s Rachel Millan during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (Bob Raines/Montgomery Media)
“We really have no size and we weren’t making our shots tonight and even if we were, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference,” Lions coach Rich Becker said. “They did a nice job, they beat us inside and when (Kayla Griffin) started hitting 3-pointers, it turns into a long night for you.”
Goodman turned in a 30-point, 28-rebound game while Green had 16 points and 19 boards. Aside from their size and leaping ability, there were a few factors that played into the big games for both.
Goodman said the Falcons put a lot of work into their rebounding in practice over the winter break, specifically boxing out and making space. The senior said that drills came with the punishment of push-ups, so there was plenty of incentive to do things the right way.
“All week we talked about boxing out and how it’s not something that we do really strongly,” Goodman said. “We worked on that all practice. It carried over into the game to box out, find a body and get them out of the way.”
Phil-Mont led 12-5 after a quarter as the undersized and banged-up Lions tried to keep pace with their shooters. However, Lower Moreland never got into any kind of groove shooting the ball, with nagging injuries and Phil-Mont’s defense taking a toll on more than a few tries.
The Falcons did turn the ball over 25 times, so Lower Moreland had plenty of extra possessions, which meant more shots and more opportunities for Green and Goodman to rebound. Becker said that Phil-Mont’s offensive rebounds and put-backs may have been more effective than their initial attempts as the Falcons continued to push the lead up.
Lower Moreland’s Erica Fleck tries for a shot past Phil-Mont Christian’s Tracey Goodman during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (Bob Raines/Montgomery Media)
“When you’re tall and fairly athletic, you rely on just jumping over somebody so working on boxing out and getting position is huge for us,” Falcons coach Bill DeHeer said. “We’re nowhere near where I want us to be but we were better today and that made a difference.”
Lower Moreland did get a highlight play to end the first half when Lauren Killion stole the ball from Goodman with less than two seconds on the clock, dribbled over halfcourt and heaved up a shot that banked in at the buzzer.
Killion led the Lions with 11 while Rachel Millan dropped in 10 points. Lower Moreland made a little run back into it midway through the third, cutting the lead down to 12 points at 39-27. But with a couple of chances to cut even deeper, the Lions couldn’t come up with the buckets they needed.
“We just has to play solid defense, box out and get rebounds,” Goodman said. “We had to take our time on offense and when they would pressure us, not get freaked out or anything, just take our time and play our game.”
Green is a fixture in the lane for Phil-Mont, but Goodman has a solid shooting stroke and can be a floor-spacer in the right game. Tuesday, she set herself to dominate inside and did so, scoring a lot of easy buckets right around the rim.
The forward said the team seems to feed off the hot hand, and whoever starts scoring first, the rest of the players want to follow suit.
Lower Moreland has a chance to right the ship Thursday against Plumstead Christian then battles Upper Moreland for top Moreland bragging rights Saturday afternoon.
