Cold shooting dooms Mules as Bedford girls drop first conference game

1/16/2013

TEMPERANCE — Turnovers combined with cold shooting generally spells trouble and the Bedford girls basketball team could not overcome that deadly duo on Tuesday night.

Bedford fell behind powerhouse Ann Arbor Huron by 21 points in the second quarter and never recovered in a 55-23 setback.

The Mules did not make a field goal in the opening quarter and trailed 10-1. They did not make their first shot from the field until 1:13 remained in the second quarter and were behind 27-6 at that point. Bedford made just one of eight field goals and committed 11 turnovers at the break.

“Ouch,” Bedford coach Bill Ryan said. “We lacked confidence. Each turnover seemed to compound the tough situation we were already in. That allowed them to free wheel and they shot well from the perimeter.”

Overall, the Mules made seven of 27 shots and turned it over 19 times. Bedford fell to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference Red Division.

Ann Arbor Huron (5-4, 3-1 Red) used a suffocating defense to seize early control and maintained the pressure throughout. The River Rats, who reached the state semifinals last season, were the preseason favorites to win the SEC Red.

“It was important to get off to a good start because Bedford is always a tough place to play,” Huron coach Steve Vinson said. “They had a good turnout and had the band was here tonight, so it was good to take the crowd out of it early. We played solid defense tonight with a lot of ball pressure. That's what we've been focused on. We took away a lot of their options.”

Kamala Glenn scored a game-high 12 points for the River Rats.

The Mules turned the ball over seven times and went 0 of 4 from the field in the first quarter. Huron took advantage of five early turnovers and built a 10-0. Bedford finally scored its first points with no time left on the first-quarter clock.

Nicole Rightnowar hit the back end of a one and one for her team's first points.

Huron led by 23 points before Bedford converted its first field goal.

Lindsey Shepherd, who finished with a team-high 10 points, scored in the lane with 1:13 left in the second quarter for the Mules' only field goal in the first half. Huron had gone on a 17-3 run to build a 27-4 advantage.

Bedford again started the second half cold, missing its first four shots. Huron limited the Mules to 15 points in the second half, while scoring 28.

“It's a product of a team that plays a lot of basketball,” Ryan said. “They were in the Breslin Center [at Michigan State] last year and they plan on being back there again. They've played some good competition this year.”

The bright spot for the Mules was on the boards, where they finished with 22 rebounds.

Shepherd had six rebounds, while Rightnowar had four to go along with her four points.

“I thought Lindsey Shepherd and Nicole Rightnowar showed some character competing,” Ryan said. “They threw caution to the wind and pinned their ears back. Hopefully we'll grow up from a game like this.”

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.