Meadow Heights' pressure wears on Oran

Meadow Heights did everything in its power to make it tough on Oran offensively.

They pressed, they denied, they substituted, they pressured.

It worked -- all of it.

The Panthers (11-5) pulled away for a 61-47 victory over the Eagles (6-6) on Monday night.

"It really wears them down," Meadow Heights coach Mitch Nanney said. "We are deep. We had two freshmen and a sophomore play tonight. We lose a little experience, but you can't fault the effort. When you run 10 girls in there and they have a short bench, it wears on them."

Meadow Heights' Jillian Mills shoots over Oran's Taylor Irwin during the first quarter Monday at Meadow Heights. (Fred Lynch)

Oran had a little trouble early on against the full-court, man-to-man pressure.

"They made shots," Nanney said. "They hit some not-so-easy shots."

With the game tied at 10-10, the Panthers' defense started to rattle the Eagles and the offense fed off of it.

Heather Dietiker drained a 3-pointer, Erin Bollmann hit a basket and a free throw, and Hattie Cook scored on a layup as Oran closed the quarter on an 8-0 run for an 18-10 lead.

"We weren't being strong," Oran coach Adam Friga said. "They [Meadow Heights] play well. They put the pressure on, and we weren't strong with the ball. It was a little sloppy."

TOP: Meadow Heights' Erin Bollmann, center, and Bridget Welker grabsa rebound away from Oran's Cheyanne King, who picked up a foul on the play.LEFT: Meadow Heights' Erin Bollmann takes a shot as Oran's Shelbie Seyer defends during the second quarter. A photo gallery of the game can be viewed online at semissourian.com.

The Panthers didn't let up in the second quarter.

When Oran moved to within seven points midway through the quarter, Cook answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to push Oran's lead to 28-15.

Meadow Heights led 32-17 at halftime.

"That was huge," Friga said of the Panthers' run before half. "When you can't put the ball in the hole, you're not going to win. But I'm not worried about offense. We need to do a better job on the defensive end, rebounding and being aggressive."

The Eagles' Cheyanne King scored six of her game-high 18 points in the opening two minutes of the second half to trim the lead to 36-25, but that's as close as Oran would get.

Cook scored on a layup and made a free-throw, Dietiker hit a jumper and Bollmann made a basket to cap a 7-0 run that stretched the lead back to 43-25.

Meadow Heights took a 50-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles closed the game on a 9-0 run but never threatened the lead.

Cook had 17 points for the Panthers and Dietiker added 14.

Cook and Dietiker, both juniors, have stepped up their production in the absence of sophomore standout Whitney Welker, who has been sideline for the entire season thus far with a knee injury. Welker is expected to miss two more weeks.

"That's been their role all season," Nanney said. "We graduated a couple kids and Welker is on the bench. They have been taking more of the scoring burden and the aggressor role along with Gina [Cureton]. This is their third year and they have experience. It's really important that they are playing well."

Oran 10 7 11 19 -- 47

Meadow Hts. 18 14 18 11 -- 61

ORAN (47) -- Abbey Anderson 6, Taylor Irwin 4, Claire Seyer 5, Cheyanne King 18, Haley Glastetter 8, Shelby Unger 2, Brittany Blakenship 2, Shelbie Seyer 2. FG 21, FT 5-10, F 15. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)

MEADOW HEIGHTS (61) -- Hattie Cook 17, Heather Dietiker 14, Erin Bollmann 10, Gina Cureton 8, Jillian Mills 6, Brooke Sander 2, Bridget Welker 2, Chancey Elfrink 2. FG 24, FT 8-14, F 13. (3-pointers: Dietiker 2, Cook 3. Fouled out: none.)