BCS cruises to victory

BRADENTON — It wasn’t so much a game, as it was a building block.

The type of stepping stone giving the reserves some playoff experience, while getting the starters prepared for the future state tournament rounds.

Those starters helped the Bradenton Christian girls basketball team build a healthy halftime cushion behind a ferocious defense.

One the Panthers used to trounce visiting Avon Park Walker Memorial 65-36 in the Class 1A-Region 2 quarterfinals on Thursday.

“We had kind of a trap, and then we went to man,” BCS coach Jim Van Til said, “and we tried to mix it up to confuse them.”

The win coupled with Seffner Christian’s 46-45 victory over Lakeland Victory Christian means the Panthers host the District 8 runners-up at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

BCS (25-3) had a full arsenal at its disposal in destroying the Eagles.

The District 8 champions dominated the paint, hit jumpers when they needed them and moved the ball in the half court sets with precision passing.

“They’re an outstanding basketball team,” said Walker Memorial coach Bill Farmer, who is in his 10th season. “And we knew they would get down the floor in a hurry, and we warned the girls about that, but it seemed like they were almost in awe of them in the first few minutes.”

The Panthers outscored the Eagles 22-5 in the first quarter behind a defense that held Walker Memorial to a woeful 2-for-12 performance from the field.

BCS also forced eight turnovers in the opening frame.

The 17-point lead was stretched to 27 by halftime.

And Rachel Brown’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 58 seconds left in the third instituted a running clock as BCS had its biggest lead of the night at 35 points.

Brown’s basket also gave her 11 points to go along with 12 rebounds and seven steals.

Teammate Maria DeKuiper led the way with 25 points, five short of her season-high.

She chipped in seven boards, as the starters were used sparingly after the hot start.

“We didn’t have the starters in very much, so for the younger players ... got a chance to play and get more experience,” DeKuiper said.

BCS’ height advantage also plagued the Eagles (13-5).

Time after time when Liz Capps (14 points, 5 assists) received the ball near the 3-point line, the BCS senior would drive to the rim forcing Walker Memorial’s defense to collapse, which allowed Capps to find DeKuiper in the paint.

“The way we see it is, if you get it down low, it opens it up for the rest of the guards,” Capps said. “It just makes it a lot easier, and if they’re going to give it to you down low, you might as well take it.”

It wasn’t all heartache for Walker Memorial, who was without lone senior Megan Bedell, who was injured.

That meant Kristelle Lagabon shouldered the scoring load to the tune of 15 points.

Her last bucket was the most impressive and brought excitement to the BCS gym.

Lagabon weaved around some Panthers’ players before unleashing a half-court heave that swished the net at the buzzer to end the game.