Meadow Heights draws on old lesson to beat Bismarck

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- The foundation for Meadow Heights' harassing defense started being laid after the Panthers suffered a thrashing eight or nine years ago.

"The first game that they ever played in their life that I coached them they got beat 30-0, and I said we need to make some changes," Panthers coach Mitch Nanney said. "We went to playing full man-to-man. I taught them the basic rules and ... how to get out and guard the basketball. They're blessed with their own quickness and athletic IQ.

"We have not changed our formula. We've built upon it and built upon it."

The Panthers' defense stifled Bismarck in their Class 2 girls basketball sectional game Wednesday. The Panthers never allowed the Indians' offense to get started in their 70-48 victory.

"We take a lot of pride in it because whenever we were younger, we didn't have any offense at all," Meadow Heights sophomore Whitney Welker said of her team's defense. "We couldn't do nothing, so our goal was to shut the other team down with our defense, then we could win the games that way."

The key to Wednesday's sectional win was containing 6-foot-1 guard Brooke Taylor. The Southeast Missouri State recruit scored 40 points when the teams played in last year's sectional round, a 74-70 victory by the Panthers.

"We all knew she was good," Meadow Heights junior Gina Cureton said. "It helps to know all that from last year. We learned what she could do."

Meadow Heights shut her down in this year's rematch. She only scored 10 points through the first three quarters.

"Our plan pretty much was just to play Brooke as hard as we could and if someone ball screened, double her," Welker said. "And just pretty much know where she's at at all times and just play as hard as we can.

"I think we started to frustrate her because I know Brooke and I can tell that she kind of gets frustrated whenever things don't go her way. She works through them, but she still gets frustrated."

Nanney said he told his team that it needed to limit Taylor to less than 25 points. She scored 21 in Wednesday's contest.

"I said if we keep her under 25, we can win the game by as much as we want to," Nanney said. "If she gets over that, it's going to be a ballgame and we'll have to see what happens."

Meadow Heights' defense collected nine steals, with Erin Bollmann swiping four. It even forced the Indians into a pair of 5-second counts on inbound plays in the fourth quarter.

"You just work as hard as you can and for as long as you can," Welker said. "There's really no key to it. It's just a lot, a lot, a lot of hard work."

The Panthers know they'll need another standout defensive performance in Saturday's state quarterfinal round against Thayer. They said the defense will be cranked up for the 1 p.m. tipoff at Poplar Bluff HIgh School.

"If we keep our defense up like we have the past couple games, I know that we can go to state," Welker said.