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CCHS girls open season with Intercity win over BHS
NORMAL -- Central Catholic coach Debbie Coffman went to her bench early and often and the Saints kept up the defensive pressure throughout en route to a 60-43 season-opening win over Bloomington in the Intercity Tournament. | Schedules, scores and stats | Photos “For the first game of the year it was good to see a lot of nice things that we saw,” Coffman said. “A lot of young kids got to play and a lot of veterans stepped it up. I think that kind of teamwork will take us a long way in the end.” Cold-shooting BHS used a strong second quarter to shave a 19-9 deficit to 29-27 by halftime. The Saints kept coming at the Purple Raiders in waves in the second half and pulled away again. Freshman Allie Norton paced Central Catholic with a game-high 13 points, and Amanda Murray added 10. Coffman used 14 players, and 11 broke into the scoring column. “I think we had like seven turnovers in the first 2½ minutes of the second quarter,” Coffman said. “I called a timeout and after that we took care of the ball and it carried over into the second half. “I keep telling the girls they’re going to get a chance to play. Things like turnovers are going to happen when you’re pushing the ball up the court and trying to wear teams down.” Teasha Harris led BHS with 11 points, and Shaneice Bell had 10. The Raiders shot a frosty 19 percent form the field (13 of 68) while committing 30 turnovers. “We just looked flat and scattered tonight,” said BHS coach Sondra Sisson. “I’ve never seen the kids play that nervous, but a lot of kids who haven’t seen varsity time had first-game jitters. We’ve got some growing to do. “This is only game number one. We’ve got to learn from tonight and make some changes.” The tournament continues Wednesday with U High facing Normal West at 6 p.m. and Central Catholic taking on NCHS at 7:30. |