By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – It was not the quickest of starts Nov. 26 for senior Alex Bentley, Ben Davis guard and Miss Basketball candidate, in her Class 4A top-ranked Giants’ tussle with Perry Meridian. The 5’7” bundle of kinetic energy missed five straight shots at one point, and the cold spell coincided with a Perry Meridian rally that cut a 9-0 lead to just two at 18-16.
But Bentley scored her team’s last six points of the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating baseline turnaround jumper, to push host BD’s halftime lead to eight at 26-18. By the time 5’9” sophomore guard Bria Goss took the baton from Bentley in the third quarter – to the tune of 12 points and five steals in an eight-minute absolute blitzkrieg – the Giants were well on their way to a 64-35 victory.
“For two-and-a-half quarters we were pretty much right there,” said an awestruck Perry Meridian coach Mike Armstrong. “But Ben Davis is so explosive – what we spent two-and-a-half quarters doing, they undid in about three-and-a-half minutes.
“The amount of pressure they can put on you is unbelievable.”
True that, Miguel. With its relentless pressure defense, Ben Davis (3-0) forced turnovers on an amazing 10 of the Falcons’ first 12 possessions in building that 9-zip lead.
But after not getting its first point till a free throw with 2:13 left in the opening period, the Falcons (2-2) tallied five more points in the quarter’s final 18 seconds on a putback bucket by 5’10”junior forward Krista Schott and a 3-pointer from 5’9” senior forward Sam Nash at :00.3.
“I wasn’t happy we were down 9-0, but I was pleased with how we rallied back,” said Armstrong, now in his 23rd season at the southside Indy school.
That rally made it a 9-6 game, and Perry Meridian somehow got the deficit down to one at 12-11 – allowing the Falcons to finally match their point total with their turnover output – when 6’1” junior center Lindsay Spears canned an improbable bank shot from the paint with 5:30 to go before halftime.
“We were very lethargic early, then tried to get going too quick,” said 24th-year BD coach Stan Benge. “We weren’t in rhythm at all, but it’s still early (in the season).”
Bentley’s late flurry, however, set the tone for a staggering third stanza that saw the Giants set a sick standard for rhythmic defensive larceny.
Of the Falcons’ nine turnovers in the period (Perry would finish with an overwhelming 29 for the game), eight came on steals by Ben Davis. Of the eight pilfers, five of them were turned into baskets.
The Giants’ 6-0 run that forced a Falcon timeout turned into a 15-0 run that brought a second stoppage by Armstrong. The spurt stretched to 18-zip – in a grand total of 2:56, mind you – when 5’7” junior guard Jordan Huber banked in a three from the left side to make it 46-22.
Hawk (Perry’s only double-figure scorer with 12 points) finally stopped the runaway train with a left-handed layin, but Ben Davis responded with the period’s final five points – all by Goss, who finished with game highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds.
How’s this for Goss’ third-quarter productivity?
• Partially deflected driving shot that goes in for the first two points of the period
• Steal
• Putback bucket
• Steal leading to a jumper for 5’8” senior guard Emily Huber
• Steal leading to a fast-break layup by 5’11” junior guard Dorothy “Dee Dee” Williams
• Three-point play on a drive and subsequent free throw
• Driving basket
• Steal leading to another three-point play on another drive and free throw
• Steal
Criminy. How did this team ever lose two ballgames last year?
“If I have my choice of going really fast or going really slow, I would choose really fast – but only if we are in control,” said Benge. “If the game keeps going slow, you never know what can happen.”
The lead grew to 33 at 59-26 on Bentley’s last bucket (she would finish 6 of 13 from the floor and 1 of 2 from the free throw line for 13 points) with just under five minutes remaining in the contest before full-scale substitutions took place.
Next up for Ben Davis is a Nov. 28 home date with Brownsburg (1-2). Perry Meridian, meanwhile, is off till a Dec. 3 home game versus Greenwood (2-2).
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