The Clermont Northeastern Rockets were the latest to fall prey to the explosive Georgetown Lady G-Men offense. The Rockets kept it close in the first quarter trailing by five, but Georgetown kicked their offense into a different gear, defeating CNE 70-33 on Saturday afternoon.
Georgetown jumped out on the Rockets early by starting the game in a full-court press, scoring six points before Clermont was able to get the ball across mid-court.
Coach Jason Kreimer quickly called a timeout to settle his team down and draw up a press-break. The Rockets put the coaches plan into action and were able to turn the Lady G-Men’s press against them, scoring easy baskets on the offensive end.
The Rockets were also able to expose Georgetown’s weakness down low as their trio of Carley Aselage, Jessica Kirby and Emily Werring were able to dominate the boards, getting put-backs for some easy scoring early on.
After the first quarter, Georgetown had gotten CNE into a pace they couldn’t keep up with, leading 22-17.
The Lady G-Men were led by 5-foot-6 senior guard Casey Carter who scored seemingly at will in the first half. She led all scorers with 26 points in the game.
Following the offensive explosion in the first quarter, the Rockets fell back down to earth as they were only able to score 16 points the rest of the game.
Georgetown combated Northeastern’s size advantage by playing good defense. The Lady G-Men were at an obvious disadvantage on the block, but with their collapsing defense, the Rockets were unable to get the ball into the post with any kind of regularity.
Georgetown would slack off their man-to-man match-ups in favor of clogging the passing lanes to the Rockets forwards, forcing tipped passes for steals.
Georgetown was able to blow the game open in the second quarter when their defense and offense both clicked, scoring 17 points while holding Clermont Northeastern to just four points. The Lady G-Men took a 39-21 halftime lead and only increased upon their lead in the third quarter.
Carter, who scored 17 of the Lady G-Men’s 39 first-half points, added seven more in the third quarter. Carter was assisted by Megan Hartfield who added 10 points for Georgetown as they outscored the Rockets in the third quarter 18-6.
Clermont Northeastern was able to show bright spots throughout an otherwise disappointing performance. Aside from the size advantage that they will enjoy over most opponents, the Rockets got solid play from 5-foot-8 senior forward Amanda “Spanky” Burdsall and junior forward Jessica Kirby. Kirby scored a team-high 10 points for CNE and Burdsall added eight more. Aselage, who got most of her points from rebounds and put-backs, scored seven points.
Georgetown emptied their bench with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving everyone a chance to play. The final quarter was similar to the previous two with CNE unable to get anything going offensively. When the final buzzer sounded, Georgetown won 70-33.
Georgetown showed why they are thought by many to be the class of the Southern Buckeye Conference as they opened the season with two impressive wins.
The Lady G-Men defeated Batavia 83-28 Dec. 1 before going to Clermont Northeastern and beating the Rockets on their home floor.
The Lady G-Men will face Amelia on Tuesday at Amelia and then will travel to Williamsburg to play the Wildcats on Thursday.
For the Rockets, the loss drops them to 0-3 on the season. CNE attempted to right the ship on Monday night when they played at Manchester and they will face Western Brown on Thursday.
