BELOIT — It was a tale of two halves for the each of the girls basketball teams competing Saturday afternoon at the Barkin Arena. Each team had one strong half.
In the first half, the Beloit Memorial Purple Knights’ athletic abilities took center stage. With no seniors on the team, the Beloit Memorial pressure defense unsettled visiting Janesville Parker.
An up-tempo style, keyed by a strong performance from junior forward Asharia Koch had the Knights celebrating as they sprinted off the floor to the locker room, in full command of the game with a 51-25 lead.
The second half showed some growing pains where the Janesville Parker Vikings responded with intensity of their own, forcing turnovers and ill-advised shots the Vikings clawed back into the game, the Purple Knights prevailed in the non-conference contest.
Parker to stay on the periphery of what would become a 79-65 victory.
It was the first win for coach Jack Morgan, whose patent white leather shoes and energetic coaching staff set the tone on the bench.
Morgan said the team had plenty to be proud of, and plenty to learn from.
“We had a great first half, and the second half was rough,” Morgan said. “And part of that was we had a couple of kids get banged up and weren’t able to return, and we had one foul out where we had a discrepancy with the scorebook. So we really had just five players for the last 10 minutes, which made things difficult. We showed our potential, and we showed our youth.”
Koch scored 25 of her game-high 34 points, displaying her inside-outside skills along with outstanding rebounding ability.
“Asharia was amazing,” Morgan said. “I watched her on tape from this summer, and it’s obvious she’s improved even since then. She’s graceful and powerful, and when she’s right, she really drives us.”
The maturity of his young team postgame struck Morgan, who joined the staff just three days before the team’s first practice and his hiring as head coach is still awaiting final school board approval.
“We are going to be good, but we’ve got a lot to learn,” Morgan said. “What I liked best was our leadership identified those issues before I even had a chance to say anything.”
Freshman Brooklyn Price announced her arrival with authority, hitting four three-pointres and five of her six free throws on the way to 29 points.
Another freshman, Zahrah Krake, was a force underneath, finishing with eight points.
“Brooklyn was amazing I thought,” Morgan said. “She really stepped up. And I thought Evelyn Karr was a bulldog out there, fighting for every loose ball. Reeasha Burrows showed great leadership. I could say something good about every kid who played, and that’s what I did in the locker room after the game.”
Koch said the team did more than enough on both sides of the court to earn the win.
“I liked how our defense really led directly into the offense today,” Koch said. “But we also executed when we need to in the halfcourt too, so it wasn’t just defense. We did what we had to do.”
The Vikings host crosstown rival Janesville Craig tonight at 7:15 p.m.
