The North Fond du Lac defense swarmed Campbellsport ball-handlers all night.
The Orioles used that pestering defense to get easy baskets during their 55-24 home Flyway win on Tuesday night.
NFDL (3-4 overall, 1-3 in Flyway) jumped out quickly, forcing four turnovers and building an 11-2 lead just 1:40 into the game.
Coach Gary Kuehl said he thinks his team's intensity established how they wanted to play.
"I thought the aggressiveness to start the game really set the tone for us," Kuehl said. "We talked about making them play full court and I thought our starters did a nice job the first five minutes and got us going."
Senior guard Morgan Fowler used her speed to sprint all over the court, forcing Cougars into errant passes that her teammates were able to pick off.
Kuehl said he has been urging Fowler to use her speed and athleticism to her advantage.
"I thought tonight she started to use it both on the offensive end and the defensive end," Kuehl said. "That really helps us. We're missing Allison Now right now and she's our heart and soul on defense and such a gritty player.
"We need that from the other kids, and I thought our kids did that tonight."
Fowler also had a number of key passes in the half-court offense that helped break down the defense and led to baskets, though not all of them were direct assists.
She said she credits the way her teammates work off of the ball and the relationships they've formed in practice.
"It's really fun," Fowler said. "In practice we learn to read each other, so we can do signals when we know what we're going to do."
Junior Lily Roberts was also able to use her 5-foot-11 size to disrupt inbounds passes and limit the court vision of opposing guards.
In addition to her work defensively, Roberts led NFDL with 14 points. Most of her production came underneath, but she also made two jump shots, one of which was a 3-pointer.
"I've been trying to clear my mind," Roberts said. "If I think too much about it, I kind of freak out, so I've been trying to keep an open mindset, look for my teammates and my teammates have been looking for me and trusting me with my shot."
Roberts said her success and the overall success of the team can be attributed to unselfish play.
Senior Leah Patterson also got in on the scoring act, for she finished with 10. Patterson was able to find the soft spots when Campbellsport (2-6, 1-3) played zone.
"That's Leah's game," Kuehl said. "She's got a soft shot; she does a nice job. She gets a lot of deflections defensively, but when she hits a couple of shots, it really helps open things up for us."
PHOTO GALLERY: Campbellsport at North Fond du Lac girls basketball - 12/17/2024
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