Knights’ pressure too much for Devils

Tabor - In a 4-1 record since the holiday break, the Fremont-Mills girls have turned up the pressure to the tune of more than 12 steals per game.

Friday night was no different.

The Knights grabbed nine steals and forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone as they sprinted out to a 25-7 lead en route to a 61-24 victory over Nishnabotna Friday in Corner Conference action in Tabor.

“We’ve turned up the defense since the break and that’s turned out to be a good thing for us,” said Fremont-Mills coach Rod Williams after the game. “I’ve talked to some coaching buddies and to play the way we want, we need to press. Finally I started listening. It’s working so far.”

Fremont-Mills held the Blue Devils (5-7 overall, 5-5 in the conference) without a point for nearly nine minutes between the first and second quarters and stretched its lead to 42-10 at the half after Macy Williams hit a three pointer and runner in the final 46 seconds of the half.

“Scoring wise, it may not look it, but they did a pretty good job on us defensively,” Coach Williams said.

Macy Williams dished out six of her game-high nine assists in the first quarter and finished with 17 points. Her three pointer just a minute into the third quarter pushed the junior guard over 1,000 points in her career to rank second all-time in Knights’ scoring.

Taryn Williams added 18 points and Andrea McClary 17 for the Knights.

Fremont-Mills 79,
Essex 44

Macy Williams and Taryn Williams combined for 51 points as Fremont-Mills rolled to a 79-44 victory over Essex last Tuesday.

The Knights (9-2 overall, 9-1 in the Corner Conference) got a fast start, leading 26-7 after a quarter of play.

“We started fast as we have last few games,” said Fremont-Mills coach Rod Williams. “I felt we have been playing well since break, even with the loss to Stanton. We still played very well that game against a very solid team.  I have been extremely proud of these girls. We found a way to win before break when we were not all healthy and not all on the same page.  We came off break on a mission.   

“They are focused and playing better every game.  I feel good going forward into the rest of the season.  We will give anyone and everyone a run for their money.”

The Knights’ 79 points were a season-high.

Macy Williams finished with a game-high 26 points and 10 assists. Taryn Williams added 25 points and four steals.

Junior center Andrea McClary added 12 points and game-high 13 rebounds.

Kelsey Hurley chipped in six points but the junior caused most of her damage on defense.

“We should keep deflection stats because there was a total of 21 steals last night and Kelsey probably had something to do with most of them,” Coach Williams said. “She did a great job.”

Seana Perkins led Essex with 19 points.