Montpelier girls basketball drops BBC contest to Holgate

Montpelier’s Meara McGee buried a 3-pointer in transition to give the Locos (7-7, 2-1 BBC) a 5-4 lead with 3:31 left in the third quarter and Holgate followed with a turnover, but the Tigers answered thereafter.

Jordyn Altman scored in transition and a Montpelier turnover led to a transition 3 for Olivia Blaker. The Locos’ fifth turnover of the frame allowed Paisley Wilhelm a layup in transition for an 11-5 lead and forced a timeout.

“I thought our defense was really stout in the first half. We got some transition stuff, got some turnovers, got some layups and Liv hit a couple 3-pointers, which was huge for us,” Holgate coach Scott Giesige said.

Blaker, who had a game-high 10 points, opened the second quarter with another triple, which stretched the Tigers’ lead to 14-7. Mya Tijerina’s transition layup after a steal late in the period pushed the lead to 12 — the largest of the game.

Montpelier, which scored a season-low 19 points against Liberty Center earlier in the week, was only on pace for 22 points after an 11-point first half plagued by turnovers and missed shots.

“We struggled in the half-court set. Some of that is our inability to take teams off the dribble very effectively,” Montpelier coach Mike Bumb said. “We think we’re building for the future with the sets that we have with the 41 offense, which we try to spread it out and attack. But I don’t think we’re doing such a great job of cutting away from the ball. I think it’s more of, ‘Coach tells me I have to go to a spot then I’m going to a spot — not with any sense of urgency.’”

The Locos made their run, though, coming within seven points after scoring the first two buckets of the fourth quarter.

Altman made a heave at the third-quarter buzzer, which answered a Kelsie Bumb 3 just seconds before, to keep Holgate in the lead by 11 points. But McGee opened the last frame with a layup and Aleigha Hillard followed with a steal into a layup to make it 34-27 with 6:10 to play.

McGee added another layup with 2:30 to play, which also brought the Locos within seven points.

“We got down but I thought we scrapped. Give our kids credit, I thought we hung around and sped up the tempo a little bit,” Bumb said. “We don’t have much margin for error with this team. I think we’re good enough to put it together and beat anybody on our schedule, I really do. But there’s just no margin for error.”

Altman stopped the first Montpelier run with a layup and Madison Clark followed with a 3-point play and made the ensuing free throw to take a 39-29 lead. The second Locos run to come within seven was halted by the free-throw line, as Holgate buried 6-of-9 foul shots the rest of the way.

Altman and Isabelle Blaker each scored nine points and Wilhelm added eight points. Mandy Taylor led the Locos with eight points, while Bumb and McGee each scored seven points.

Holgate 46, Montpelier 35

Montpelier 7 4 12 12 — 35

Holgate 11 10 13 12 — 46

Montpelier: Taylor 4 0 0-2 8, Bumb 1 1 2-2 7, McGee 2 1 0-0 7, Uribes 2 0 1-3 5, Hillard 2 0 0-0 4, Hopper 2 0 0-2 4. Totals: 13 2 3-9 35.

Holgate: O. Blaker 1 2 2-4 10, Altman 2 1 2-2 9, I. Blaker 2 1 2-2 9, Wilhelm 3 0 2-5 8, Clark 1 0 3-5 5, Tijerina 1 0 1-2 3, Schuller 0 0 2-2 2. Totals: 10 4 14-22 46.