PITSBURG – After winning the Roy Hutchinson Memorial Tournament to start the season, the Franklin Monroe Jets plunged into Cross County Conference play. They hosted the Newton Indians in the Hanger and quickly dominated the Jets with a smothering defense. The Indians could not gain any offensive momentum and the Jets scored early and often in an easy 68-22 victory.
The Jets began the game with a press and they eventually settled into a half court man to man defense. They played a scrappy style of defense and were able to generate points off of steals. In the 2nd half the Jets played some zone defense, but the team did not lose a step as Newton would only score in single digits in each quarter.
Newton started with a zone defense – hoping to keep post player Corina Conley at bay. Despite the defensive pressure, Conley was still able to score a game high 23-points on the night. The Indians did try to press a bit in the second half, but the Jets made them pay by being able to break the press and get points.
“Corina is Miss Consistent when she comes out onto the floor,” said FM coach Abbey Moore. “It felt like we got pushed around a little in the beginning of the game. She had to fight through the contact.”
In their half-court offense the Jets were able to hit from the outside as well. They would end up with three players scoring in double figures. Skylar Bauman 10; Belle Cable 16; Corina Conley 23.
Coach Moore was pleased with the team’s 3-0 start, “Being 3 and 0 is always a good thing,” Moore stated. “It was a total team effort tonight – we played very unselfish and got a lot of points in transition. It all starts on defense, we get those easy buckets from great defense. I was proud of the effort tonight, it wasn’t always pretty – but then you always have things to improve upon.”
The Jets will end their holiday week with a game at Legacy Christian. “We have a little revenge going for this game – they knocked us out of the tournament last year,” said Coach Moore. “This game is definitely circled on our calendar. We are looking forward to the game. We have gone back and forth with them over the past few years. We are ready for our game this weekend.”
Also scoring for the Jets: Stella Shellabarger 2; Chloe McGlinch 4; Chloe Brumbaugh 8; Chloe Peters 2; Audry Cable 3.