Girls basketball: Shining Mountain cruises past Longmont Christian

BOULDER — Patience was the shovel the Shining Mountain girls basketball team used to bury Longmont Christian on Thursday night.

If it took two or three motions through an offensive play to get a breakdown, the Lions were ready and willing to do it. Sometimes, it took four. However, for Paisley Sheehan and the rest of the Lions in a 43-29 win over the Warriors, it exemplified the way they want the tempo to roll.

“We’ve been working hard to run our offense with urgency but without craziness,” said Sheehan after pushing Shining Mountain to 5-3 overall with a 20-point, six-rebound night. “Nice, patient, calm passing but still looking to score. Our coach continues to keep us thinking about getting the better pass for the better shot, and so that patience and calmness has been something we’ve wanted to do.”

Nothing’s been slow about Shining Mountain’s schedule the past week, one that started with consecutive losses to Briggsdale and Rocky Mountain Lutheran. It was against Briggsdale that Michael Hawkes and his team realized slowing the game down was more the way to go.

It worked to perfection against the Warriors (1-4). With Rosie Gershman keeping the visitors honest with her outside play, Katharine Wilson and Sheehan were able to control the inside. When the defense closed in, they kicked out and re-booted, waiting for a defender to get out of place or for one of their own to slip through a screen.

Sheehan made eight of 11 shots in the game, and Wilson contributed 10 points on five field goals for Shining Mountain. Gershman was key, however, with some solid passing and timely 3-pointers in the second quarter.

“We’ve talked about playing at our tempo and being in control of ourselves on the offensive side of the court,” Hawkes said. “Rosie’s decision-making was great tonight, and she made some great passes and moved to the spots she knew she could shoot from.

“We put our bigs in successful positions throughout the game.”

After trailing 4-3 early, Shining Mountain went on an 8-0 run to close the first quarter. Longmont Christian came all the way back to make it 13-11 on an Andrea Willis jumper with 5 minutes, 40 seconds to go in the second frame, but Shining Mountain regrouped for a 13-2 stretch to finish the half. Gershman hit both of her 3-pointers during that time, while Sheehan and Wilson continued to get second chances on shots thanks to a number of offensive rebounds.

The Lions had 10 offensive rebounds for the game as part of a 31-23 edge. Wilson led the way with 12 rebounds.

“We have a great group of girls who just want to work together and for each other.” Sheehan said.

Longmont Christian was led by Allison Cochran’s 14 points and six rebounds. The Warriors adjusted to some early turnover woes early to keep themselves in contention, but they could not take a significant chunk out of the Shining Mountain lead after that mid-game run.

Sarah Robbins chipped in six points for the Warriors, who will try and rebound against Lyons on Friday.

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Shining Mountain 43, Longmont Christian 29

At Shining Mountain HS

LONGMONT CHRISTIAN (1-4)

Sandra Cadena 0 0-0 0, Emily Baker 0 0-0 0, Andrea Willis 2 0-0 4, Anna Stair 1 1-1 3, Sarah Robbins 2 2-4 6, Allison Cochran 6 2-3 14, Abbey Moore-Kneipp 1 0-2 2. Totals 12 5-10 29.

SHINING MOUNTAIN (5-3)

Tea Speek 1 0-0 2, Rosie Gershman 2 3-5 9, Paisley Sheehan 8 3-3 20, Katharine Wilson 5 0-0 10, Meishan Wright 0 0-0 0, Inaya Shore 0 0-0 0, Ella Baca 0 1-2 1, Sarrah Claman 0 1-6 1. Totals 16 8-16 43.

Score by quarters:

Longmont Christian 4 11 6 8 — 29
Shining Mountain 11 15 8 9 — 43

3-point field goals — Longmont Christian (0); Shining Mountain (3): Gershman 2, Sheehan. Total fouls — Longmont Christian 16, Shining Mountain 15.