At times, Bowling Green’s girls basketball team made everything look easy in its season-opener
against Eastwood.The Bobcats had no trouble as they dominated in every aspect en route to a 74-21 drudging
of the Eagles, at home Friday night.BG had five players score in double figures, largely because of its
ability to score transition baskets."That was one of the things that we stressed when preparing for
this game, that we have got to get back on defense," said first-year Eastwood coach Lindsay Ross.
"There were times that we did and there were several times that we didn’t."Bobcat guard Reagan
Morman led all scorers with 15 points, while Hanna Williford added 14. All six of Williford’s baskets came
in the paint, with the majority coming after an Eastwood turnover."We think that can be a positive for
us this year, and we’ve worked a lot on transition and some plays off of transition," BG coach Jeff
Nichols said of his team’s offensive philosophy. "(Eastwood) had a nice concept defensively to try to
stop the ball … but we were just faster than them in a couple of spots and we were able to get the ball to
the basket."The teams went back and forth early in the first quarter as BG held a 14-10 lead with 1:39
left in the opening eight minutes. But a 19-2 run that spilled through most of the second gave the Bobcats a
33-12 lead.BG led 38-14 by halftime and already had forced 18 of Eastwood’s 28 total turnovers."That
was our biggest downfall tonight, and that’s how we lost the game," Ross said of BG’s ability to turn
defense into offense. "Once you dig that hole, it was a struggle for us to get back where we needed to
be."Hailey Maas scored 12 points for BG, while Tyanna Smith and Livvy Dill added 11 each.Smith and Dill
were a combined 10-for-14 (71 percent) from the floor as BG shot 31-of-64 (48 percent) as a team."We
ran our transition and were unselfish with the ball," Nichols said. "That will help us as we go
through the season."We’re not going to be a real great half-court offensive team," he added.
"We can do it, but we like to transition and we were able to get that tonight and got going."With
Eastwood’s Megan Leuck and Emily Hayward out with injuries, BG used its size advantage to hold a 41-24 edge
in rebounding.The Bobcats recorded 13 offensive rebounds, most coming in the first half."We just
hounded the kids the last couple of days about checking out and rebounding," Nichols said.Eastwood’s
Reagan Boice, who led the Eagles with seven points, opened the third quarter with an easy layup. But Morman
answered quickly with a 3-pointer from the right corner, giving BG a 41-16 lead. Morman and Maas combined
for six of BG’s triples.The Bobcats, who used all 10 of their varsity players, led 60-21 by the end of the
third and shut out the Eagles in the fourth.Eastwood was 0-for-16 shooting in the final eight minutes and
was 8-for-48 (17 percent) for the game."We didn’t execute like we should have. The shots were just not
falling either," Ross said.The numbers factor got (Eastwood) early and they got tired. And that’s going
to happen a little bit," Nichols said. "We were still fresh towards the end of the game. That’s
just because we played 10 people."BG won the junior varsity game 37-22. Ally Hart-Nichols led the
Bobcats with 10 points, while Maghan Purney led Eastwood with 12 points.