Britton Deerfield girls tough to beat

The first five games of the season for Britton Deerfield’s varsity girls basketball team have ended in wins, as the Patriots have proved hard to beat in the early season.BD defeated visiting Summerfield 60-46 on Friday, Dec. 14, led by sophomore Morgan Tanis and junior Cambria Handy.“It was another great win for us, bringing our record to 5-0,” said BD coach Craig Tanis. “I am extremely proud of how hard the girls played tonight.”Summerfield was able to finish the first quarter down by just two points at 16-14 but by the end of the first half the Patriots built a nine-point 33-24 advantage.Tanis scored nine of her total 18 points in the first half while Handy scored seven of 17 total points in the first two quarters.Five of BD’s players, Emily Shields, Taylor Cousino, Abbey Meinert, Tanis and Handy, hit the bucket in the third quarter to lift the Patriots to a 46-35 lead heading into the final quarter.BD outscored the Bulldogs 12-10 to secure the win in the final quarter.Danielle Gallagher was the game-high point scorer, recording 20 for Summerfield.“Once again our defense was the difference tonight as well as our rebounding,” said Tanis. “We had balanced scoring and our bench played extremely well, especially Emily Shields and Alicia Gotz.”Gotz added seven points and eight rebounds while Shields had three points, six rebounds and a pair of steals.In addition to Handy’s 17 points, she added eight rebounds and 10 steals.Janessa Handy added six points and collected seven assists, four rebounds and six steals while Taylor Cousino had six points and seven rebounds. BD’s Meinert had 11 points, six assists, four rebounds and five steals and Tanis added three rebounds and six steals.BD traveled to Clinton on Tuesday, Dec. 11, and defeated the Redskins 52-29. Handy had a big game with 23 points, 11 rebounds and five steals while Tanis also had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and added three assists and three steals.“It was an ugly win but a win nonetheless,” said coach Tanis. The Patriots took a 28-6 lead into the halftime break but came out slow in the second half, getting outscored 15-10 by the Redskins to finish the third quarter with a 38-21 lead.The Patriots secured the win by adding 14 points in the final quarter to Clinton’s eight.Janessa Handy added six points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals for BD while Meinert had six points and six rebounds. Gotz added six rebounds.The Patriots’ junior varsity girls team beat Clinton 37-28 to improve to 4-0. Ella Nighswander scored 13 points for BD while Hannah Callahan chipped in seven.