HAMLET — Oregon-Davis #6 ranked (1A) Lady Cats took a big win on a Friday night defeating LaVille by an 85-28 final, but not to bury the lead, it marked win number 400 for Oregon-Davis head coach Terry Minix, a milestone reached by only eight other current girls coaches in Indiana.
“Honestly I never dreamed it would get here, I’d be lying if I said I did,” said Minix after the game. “It makes it easier when you have a community that supports you and kids that want to work hard. It’s made it easier for me to want to stay at it every year.”
“One of the guys I admired when I first started was (former NorthWood head coach) Steve Neff and what he was able to accomplish in his community,” said Minix. “He was incredible. He helped me along in the early years.”
Minix has helped a lot of players over the years become the best they can be and his 2019-20 team continues to impress with their second win of the new season.
Oregon-Davis had five players in double figures scoring and three more with five rebounds.
“We have a very unselfish group of girls,” said Minix. “We hurt people by having an inside out game. We have a couple of girls six-foot inside and a couple of others who can stand out and shoot the three. You just have to pick your poison.”
“They have five girls all on the same page,” concurred LaVille head coach Daniel Pleninger. “They can all shoot long-range, short-range. They have some great post players. It’s really tough.”
The Lady Cats made it tough early forcing 13 first-quarter turnovers and jumping to a big lead that they would never relinquish. Mercedes Rhodes had 10 first-quarter points for Oregon-Davis.
“I’m proud of the way our girls fought,” said Pleninger. “After the first quarter, our defense was a lot better. We had some turnovers, we couldn’t break the press right away and we dug ourselves a hole.”
The Lady Lancers righted the ship enough to make some runs but could never get any consistent traction to get over the quick O-D start.
Lucy Sherk was a rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds to lead LaVille in both categories. Kassi Watts had eight points and Madelyn Fuchs had seven rebounds.
“I’m really excited about this group,” said Minix of his Lady Cats. “If we can just stay away from the injuries.”
Rhodes ended the night with 26 points and six rebounds. Madilynn Hudspeth and Reece Danford had 14, Sydney Williams 13 with seven steals and Jayden Worthington 13 with seven rebounds.
“Our rotation was better tonight it’s still not where it needs to be,” said Minix. “In the first quarter we rotated extremely well and we talked about it at halftime. When you have somebody down you have to keep your foot on the gas and put them away. But I’m extremely happy with the group I have and how hard they work.”
Oregon-Davis is now 2-1 on the season with a game tonight against Elkhart Christian. LaVille is 1-3 and will face Mishawaka on Tuesday.
•OREGON-DAVIS 85, LAVILLE 28
at Oregon-Davis
OD 26 40 67 85
LV 7 12 16 28
OD (85) — Johnson 1 0-0 2, Sauer 0 0-0 0, Danford 5 2-4 14, Hudspeth 5 3-4 14, Rhodes 8 8-11 26, Williams 4 5-5 13, Worthington 4 5-5 13, Saylor 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 23-29 85.
LaVille (28) — Gonzalez 1 0-0 2, Fuchs 0 1-2 1, Giles 0 0-0 0, Watts 4 0-1 8, Sherk 6 0-0 13, Medors 2 0-0 4, Tribbey 0 0-0 0, Lindke 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 1-2 28.
3 Pt. FG — OD 5 (Danford, Rhodes 2), LaVille 1 (Sherk).
Rebounds — OD 26 (Worthington 7), LaVille 32 (Sherk 8).
Assists — OD 12 (Sauer, Rhodes, Worthington 3), LaVille 3 (Fuchs 2).
Steals — OD 20 (Williams 7), LaVille 3 (Medors 2).
Turnovers — OD 6, LaVille 33.
Fouls (Fouled out) — OD 11, LaVille 16.
