BEREA – “Human Nature” couldn’t have been on louder display Sunday afternoon at Conkin Gym if the decades-old Michael Jackson song by that title had been blaring over the speakers.
One of the toughest challenges of coaching youth sports is keeping your troops focused when they’re beating the opponent like a drum. Matt Walls has seen it up-close two days in a row, and at least a half dozen times already this season with his Great Crossing girls’ basketball team.
“I don’t know if we just need to stay out on the court during halftime,” Walls wondered half-jokingly. “Do I walk out and try to keep them in there themselves to figure it out? Have I got to go in there and yell and stomp and act like a crazy man?”
It’s a happy problem, one Great Crossing will take into the championship round of the Berea Holiday Classic after a 54-19 pummeling of the host Pirates.
Monday’s title game against West Jessamine, a 67-36 winner over Lexington Catholic, tips off at 4:15 p.m. It’s a rematch of last year’s final in the Bryan Station Defender Classic, won by the Colts.
Great Crossing (8-3) held Berea (3-4) to one field goal in each of the first two periods and led by 30 at the end of the first half, in which sophomore Samantha Brown scored 22 of the Warhawks’ 41 points.
Brown buried five 3-pointers in the first half and hit her program record-tying sixth midway through the third quarter.
A couple of rim-outs and the one-sided nature of the contest stopped her there at 25. For now, she shares the single-game mark of six triples with Rachel Smith, who did it on three different occasions.
“She filled it up. I don’t know how many she ended up with. Especially how open she was, she’ll shoot it all night,” Walls said. “The way she shoots it, I’m sure she’ll have (the record by herself) at some point within the next few years. If she can start making six a game, that would be really nice.”
Brown, able to rise and fire almost every time without a Berea defender even in her shadow, scored 10 of the Warhawks’ first 12 points and had 16 at the end of the first quarter.
Kendall Kearney also delivered a deep three and a pull-up jumper in that stanza, while Emery Corrigan and Maya Custard each chipped in a transition basket.
Great Crossing led 17-0 with 3:40 still remaining in the period. It was 25-6 at the horn.
Corrigan and Brown christened the second quarter with 3-pointers from opposite corners, followed by another steal and layup from Corrigan.
“Our defense and our offense in the first half might have been one of the best halves we’ve played all year,” Walls said. “That’s what we talked about. Making that extra pass. Trying to get open looks. Just drive it and make them guard you, especially in the zone defense there. If we drive that gap and make them collapse down, we can get consistent looks that way.”
Threes by Natalya Nafee in the first quarter and Avery Plessinger in the second were the only first-half offense aside from free throws for the Pirates.
Berea finished with nine more turnovers (28) than field goal attempts (19) on the day, in part due to an 18-3 differential in fouls. The hosts missed 14 of their 23 attempts from the line.
GC found equally unkind rims after intermission, dipping from its break-even clip of 16-for-32 in the first half to 6-for-28 on the other side.
“It’s hard to have a killer instinct when you’re shooting 21 percent from the field,” Walls said. “Whatever we made in the first half, we missed in the second half.”
Maddie Napier’s basket capped the third quarter and pushed the lead past the running clock threshold at 50-14.
Great Crossing has held opponents to an average of 37.6 points per game in its eight wins. Only one of those victories was in any real second-half danger.
“I told them to get ready for the end of the year and just use it as a practice session,” Walls said. “Work on our stuff. Work on our execution. We’ve got to have that mindset about us at some point.”
Brown supplemented her perimeter prowess with six rebounds. Corrigan added 14 points, while Kearney stacked up seven points, five assists and four steals.
Custard, Corrigan, Brown and Claire Tierney joined Kearney with multiple takeaways.
GC seeks its first tournament title since the Bourbon County Classic in December 2021.
“It’s got to be a mentality,” Walls said. “You’ve got to learn how to do it. It doesn’t come naturally. Hopefully we can start learning tomorrow (Monday),”
West Jessamine has won five of six since losing both its games at the Billy Hicks Classic on Dec. 9 and 11.
“I know their really good girl (Claire Marshall) is hurt,” Walls said. “That’s a big loss for them. You’ve got to take what is given to you.”
