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Post play leads way to Williamsburg’s 5th straight win
Allen, Suhr combine for half of Raiders’ points
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — Attacking in the post and creating offense from the defense. Those were the two focal points for the Class 3A No. 5 Williamsburg girls basketball team in its 48-29 win over Benton Community in WaMaC West play Tuesday night.
Posts Zoe Allen and Kylee Suhr combined for 24 of the Raiders’ 48 points, half of their scoring production.
Allen, who is typically double and triple teamed, worked through that challenge and found some one-on-one opportunities on her way to a game-high 16 points.
“Tonight we were really working on going right up to the basket, especially with a lot of my defenders being shorter than me,” Allen said. “Just going over my right shoulder has been a thing too.”
Suhr, who brings a jolt of energy off the bench, was able to crash the boards effectively in her minutes on the court and get to the free-throw line.
“Kylee is one of the most energetic people on our team,“ Allen said. ”She’s a great athlete who is always getting us rebounds and put backs.“
The Raiders found themselves in a close ballgame after a quarter. The Bobcats’ three baskets all came on threes from three different players.
A Suhr basket gave the Raiders a 10-9 lead after one.
Williamsburg went on a run which started defensively with extended pressure that didn’t allow the Bobcats to access the paint.
“We were really trying to limit their shots in the lane,” Allen said. “They hit a few tough threes, but we talked in the huddle and decided that we’re going to keep not letting them drive and get easy twos.”
The Raiders unofficially had 21 steals, creating many of their baskets the rest of the way.
A Kennedy Skaggs triple and baskets from Allen and Taylor Sanchez off steals put the Raiders up 17-9.
The Raiders led at halftime 27-16 and slowly built their lead. The score was 37-23 after three, and the Raiders extended the lead to 19 in the fourth.
Ava Hocker connected on two of the team’s four three-pointers to finish in double figures with 10 points behind Allen’s 16. Suhr followed with eight, Skaggs seven.
The Bobcats were led by nine points from their leading scorer of the season, Aubrey Kelly. Talulah Schroeder added eight.
The win was the fifth in a row for Williamsburg (10-3, 5-3), who travels to play 4A No. 4 Dallas Center-Grimes Thursday.
