Published: January 14, 2006 11:25 pm

Maconaquah wins MIC showdown

Braves rally from a dozen points back to beat Titans

By CHRIS GARNER Tribune sportswriter

BUNKER HILL — And then there was one.

The host Maconaquah girls basketball team took over sole possession of first place in the Mid-Indiana Conference with a 58-53, come-from-behind victory over Class 2A No. 5-ranked Taylor here Saturday. Both teams entered play with 4-0 MIC records, and both teams’ overall records leveled off at 13-3.

The victory sets up the Braves to capture at least a tie for their first conference championship since 1996 with a win at Northwestern in one week, and a win at once-beaten Western on Jan. 28 would yield the title outright. “We have Western in two weeks, and we won’t start thinking about them for about a week,” said Maconaquah coach Stacy Broyles. “We have to take care of Northwestern first. “It’s something [our girls] set as a goal for themselves. We came close last year, but [two-time defending champion] Western is a tough team. We’ll take them when the time is right.”

Maconaquah’s timing couldn’t have been better to start playing better Saturday. After trailing the entire game — by as many as 12 points to start the fourth quarter — the Braves outscored Taylor 27-13 in the final stanza. With five minutes left to play, Maconaquah went on a 17-4 run to grab its first lead at 54-51 at the 1:52 mark on a Lauren Varnau 3-point field goal. Deja Mattox and Varnau keyed the run started by a Mattox basket. At one point, the Braves’ press forced three straight Taylor turnovers and converted each into points. Once the lead was in hand, 4 of 6 free throw shooting by Maconaquah and missed opportunities by the Titans sealed the win.

“My kids just stepped up and filled in the blanks [mentally],” Broyles said. “The difference definitely was, in the fourth quarter, we started to capitalize on their turnovers.

“Taylor’s a great team. They cause a lot of problems for you in your offense. As we started to settle down, we started putting that [pressure] back on them.” It was the Titans who were in control for the better part of three quarters. They steadily built leads of seven points to end the first period (11-4) and eight at halftime (29-21). Taylor ended the half on a 9-2 run. The Braves got within five points on two Kayla George free throws at the 3:10 mark of the third quarter, but another 9-2 run gave Taylor its biggest lead of the game — 12 points — moments into the fourth on Morgan McWhorter’s three-point play, three of her team-high 17 points.

That’s when the wheels came off for the Titans as Maconaquah outscored them 27-10 from that point on. “We quit attacking and we weren’t aggressive with the ball,” said coach Dennis Bentzler of his team’s fourth-quarter collapse. “We let [Maconaquah] dictate what was going to happen there at the end.

“Part of that might be my fault. We talked [in a timeout] about getting quality shots — it wasn’t that we wanted to quit shooting. We played not to lose instead of to win. It’s hard to figure.”

Mattox suffered through a dismal shooting performance before leading her team in victory. She was just 3 of 15 through three quarters before hitting her last two from the field. Mattox was 9 of 10 from the foul line for a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. “Deja was trying to force herself into the game and into the groove,” said Broyles. “When she settles down, it comes so natural for her and she makes all the other girls around her so much better.” Bentzler was also generous with his praise of Mattox. “She put [her teammates] on her back [and carried them],” Bentzler said. “We wanted to contain her and make her take tough shots and we did that for the most part. Unfortunately, every time we fouled somebody at the end, it was her and she hit the free throws.”