NMMI Dominates Hagerman in the Paint

The NMMI Lady Colts handedly took care of the Hagerman Lady ‘Cats Thursday night, and added to their win column with a 51-34 road victory.

This one was a runaway.

Bianca Walker led her team scoring 18 points for the Lady Colts and point guard Reonnah Coates accounted for 12 points including two three-pointers to lead NMMI to another road win.

“Bianca controlled the paint. Anything within 12 feet was hers,” Lady Cat’s head coach Justin Gossett said. “She started changing our shot selection,”

After a nostalgic first quarter, the Lady ‘Cats closed the lead within reach with just four points standing in their way heading into the locker room at the half.

“I was double-teamed a lot, and that was difficult to get around,” Walker said.

Gossett said his team made a good comeback, and their press was holding up.

“After the half, we just couldn’t get our energy level back up,” Gossett said.

One of the Lady ‘Cats key players, Taylor Hamill, was uncharacteristically quiet scoring 10 points.

Without much depth, Gossett had to bring some eight graders into the mix. This included Taylor’s younger sister Hannah, who made herself known in the third quarter with a critical jumper.

The Lady Colts were opportunistic in the second half, correcting their mistakes.

“We had many turnovers in the first half. I told them in the locker room, we can not be turning over the ball that many times are else we ill loose, and my girls listened tonight,” Lady Colt’s head coach Marisha Olesinski said. 

Olesinski said she was extremely impressed with Walker’s performance, even though she missed some shots; she controlled the defense in the paint with 15 blocks.

“Our passes were good, and we were there,” Walker said. “We played good, and it was great game for us. We learn from our mistakes and work on what we did wrong.”

After a couple of losses, Olesinski said her team played all four quarters aggressively.

“It was very important for us to win tonight, and especially because we lost the last few games. We really are better than our record indicates,” Olesinski said, “and I am very proud of the girls.”

Walker said their team came together, and did the best they could in the second half.

Gossett said the loss was disappointing, and his team started shooting completely different with pressure from NMMI, and their baskets just wouldn’t drop.

Looking forward, Gossett hopes to improve on passing, and convert on turnovers instead of making mistakes and turnovers themselves.