Bison can’t slip by B’way

BROADWAY – When Holly Morgan beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Buffalo Gap had 14-7 lead and it looked like the Bison hadn’t missed a beat since winning the Group A, Division 1 championship last season.

Then the Gobblers’ inside pair of Katie Hottinger and Lindsey Poirot came alive and the Bison, despite strong offensive play from their own post player – Sara Lamneck, never found an answer, falling to Broadway 62-48 in their season opener.

“We knew [Hottinger and Poirot] were both fundamentally sound,” said Gap coach Chad Coffey. “And we knew they both knew how to finish.”

They weren’t the only ones for Broadway who knew how to finish a shot.

With the pair establishing themselves in the paint, Nicole Biller soon reaped the benefits, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the third to extend the Gobbler lead to 40-26. Biller hit three more throughout the course of the game to tie a school record with five.

Biller opened the fourth quarter with her final long-range shot, this time from the elbow, that gave Broadway a 45-33 lead. The Bison (0-1) would close the lead to 10 before the twin towers took over again.

“I’m very happy with the way they played,” said Broadway coach Brian Alger. “We knew it was going to be a physical game because Buffalo Gap is always physical.”

And, for one quarter, the Bison held up their part of the bargain, banging it inside to Lamneck for four points and kicking it out to Morgan who hit two 3s in the opening frame.

But when Lamneck started the second quarter on the bench, Hottinger took over, pouring in seven of her team-high 19 points that turned a 14-7 Buffalo Gap lead into a game now tied at 21. That set up Biller, who hit her first 3 of the night to end the half, giving the Gobblers a 24-21 lead heading into the locker room.

Back in the game to start the second half, Lamneck scored seven of her game-high 24 points – including a 3 from the wing – but she got little help inside from the rest of the Bison. In that decisive third quarter, the Gobblers (2-0) outscored the Bison 18-12 (after outscoring Gap 17-7 in the second quarter) with only three Gap players putting points on the board – Lamneck, Renee Burford and a 3 from Morgan.

Coffey said he has plenty of inside players with Lamneck with the most experience. Now it’s time to see who can step up and play.

“I got to find the ones that are going to separate themselves from the rest,” he said. “That can prove, defensively, that they can play and, offensively, can handle the ball inside and around the paint.”

Coffey has until Monday, when his team travels to Stuarts Draft, to find another inside presence.