Central girls struggle against Bluff's zone

CEDAR HILL — The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team ran a zone defense that focused on not allowing Central center Wendi Zickfield to score inside during the Class 5 District 1 championship game Friday.

It was much different from the man-to-man defense that the Mules ran against Central on Jan. 8 when Zickfield scored 19 points.

This time around, the top-seeded Mules did a better job. They held Zickfield to 10 points in the game and zero in the fourth quarter while rolling to a 54-37 victory over the Tigers at Northwest High School.

"The last time they played a man-to-man defense and we got some good looks from Wendi," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "We were able to lob the ball in to her in the middle. Her height is a big advantage for us, and we used that to our advantage the last time. Their zone defense tonight didn't allow us much ball penetration into the middle and we were not hitting from the outside very well."

Zickfield didn't get many opportunities to score, and the Tigers were unable to penetrate to the basket much as they went to the free-throw line only twice in the game.

"They had three people on me when I'd touch the ball," Zickfield said. "So I didn't have as many touches as I would have liked to have had."

Poplar Bluff's Tori Williams, who has played on the same AAU team with Zickfield in the past, was one of the players who saw time guarding Zickfield.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Central junior Machaela Durham grabs an offensive rebound amidst Poplar Bluff players Friday evening, February 27, 2009, in the Class 5 District 1 championship at Northwest High School.

Williams said her team has not played much zone this year.

"We had someone in front of her and behind her so she really couldn't catch it," Williams said. "The weak-side guard was behind her and it was usually me in front of her when the ball went down to the baseline."

Ruthie Johnson, another player who has played on the same AAU team with Zickfield in the past, pestered Central early with her strong shooting.

Johnson netted three 3-pointers during the first three minutes of the game as she helped Poplar Bluff jump out to leads of 8-0 and 17-4 during the first quarter.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Poplar Bluff freshman Marissa Webb defends against Central junior Sadie Pittman Friday evening, February 27, 2009, in the Class 5 District 1 championship at Northwest High School.

"I was feeling good, so I was hot for a minute, so I just shot it," Johnson said. "It was very important for us to come out [strong]. We shot well, played great defense."

Central trailed by nine points after the first period. The Tigers got within five points early in the second quarter and trailed by eight at halftime.

"We just had a few runs where we pushed the ball as hard as we could," Zickfield said. "Whenever we did, we'd get up and then we'd slip back down and we'd get back down. We were hot and cold all night."

Central trailed by nine points heading into the fourth quarter. The dagger came when the Tigers failed to score on their first four possessions of the final period while Poplar Bluff went on a 6-0 run to take a 44-29 lead. Central missed four straight 3-pointers early in the fourth.

"We were looking for [Zickfield] in the middle as well," Shirrell said about the fourth. "But we needed the 3s. We were behind and they were stalling. So when we got the opportunity, we were looking to [Chelsea] Pannier on the outside and Sadie [Pittman]. Sadie just wasn't hitting today. Some days are like that."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Central 11 9 9 8 — 37

Poplar Bluff 20 8 10 16 — 54

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:CENTRAL (37) — Brittany Perkins 2, Wendi Zickfield 10, Machaela Durham 5, Meg Goodman 3, Farrah Malik 3, Sadie Pittman 4, Chelsea Pannier 10. FG 16, FT 1-4, F 16. (3-pointers: Pannier 2, Goodman 1, Malik 1. Fouled out: None)

POPLAR BLUFF (54) — Marissa Webb 11, Ruthie Johnson 13, Abby Ivie 2, Dennisha Rice 4, Miranda Burroughs 6, Tori Williams 4, Allie Pattillo 6, Courtney Knuckles 8. FG 20, FT 8-11, F 7. (3-pointers: Johnson 3, Pattillo 1, Burroughs 2. Fouled out: None)