Every time Seneca East tried to mount a charge against Calvert, there was an answer.
Most of the time, that answer was wearing a white No. 32 jersey.
Calvert's Megan Funkhouser said she couldn't hit any shots during warm-ups. She made up for it once the ball was tipped. Funkhouser tied a school record with seven 3-pointers in a 74-49 Midland Athletic League victory for Calvert over the Tigers.
"It feels pretty awesome," she said. "Wish I could've gotten one more, but it was definitely an accomplishment.
"During warm-ups I missed all my shots, not even joking. So it was a pretty good feeling."
"Megan just was incredible," said Calvert coach Tim Ritzler. "[She] shot the ball extremely well. She's just a person that works so hard on her shot; it's good to see her come out and have that kind of success."
Fact Box
| Calvert 74, Seneca East 49 | ||||
| Seneca East: Lauren Sprenger 0-1-1; Jessica Enders 0-0-0; Brittany Brookes 4-4-12; Emily Depinet 4-2-14; Cameil Ruffing 0-1-1; Ashton Daniel 6-0-14; Hannah Hahler 2-0-4; Amber Enders 0-0-0; Seina Adachi 0-0-0; Caitlin Sauers 0-0-0; Amy Martin 0-1-1; Jenna Larrick 0-0-0; Alexis Hall 0-0-0; Paige Reichert 1-0-2. Totals: 17-9-49. | ||||
| Calvert: Emma Sullivan 0-0-0; Taylor Ritzler 1-0-2; Danielle Kontak 0-1-1; Ashley Perry 0-0-0; Marisa Horn 4-0-9; Samantha Beckley 0-3-3; Kate Brickner 4-3-11; Margaret Bowers 3-0-6; Lindsay Bickley 1-0-2; Megan Funkhouser 7-1-22; Olivia Smith 4-4-12; Nicole Bickley 3-0-6; Amber Perry 0-0-0. Totals: 27-12-74. | ||||
| Seneca East | 9 | 13 | 16 | 11 — 49 |
| Calvert | 12 | 19 | 18 | 25 — 74 |
| Field goals: Seneca East 17-47; Calvert 27-58 | ||||
| 3-point goals: Seneca East 6-10 (Depinet 4, Daniel 2); Calvert 8-17 (Funkhouser 7, Horn) | ||||
| Foul shots: Seneca East 9-15; Calvert 12-18 | ||||
| Rebounds: Seneca East 31 (Daniel 6); Calvert 34 (Smith 8, Horn 6, Beckley 6, N. Bickley 6) | ||||
| Turnovers: Seneca East 30; Calvert 23 |
The shots were coming at big times, too. Four of her seven long-range shots came immediately following 3-pointers from Seneca East on the other end of the floor.
Perhaps none was bigger than one at the end of the first quarter. Calvert raced out to a 9-0 lead, but Seneca East clawed back and a pair of 3's from Emily Depinet tied the game in the final seconds of the opening frame.
However, Funkhouser came back down to beat the buzzer with a 3, giving Calvert a 12-9 lead at the end of one. The Senecas wouldn't lose the lead.
"That's a big swing. They come down, they start to get the momentum with them. She comes down, hits a big shot for us and momentum's right back on our side. Our lead goes right back up," Ritzler said. "They hit the 3 right there before the end of the first quarter. She comes down and hits one right back to put us up at the end of the first."
Funkhouser connected twice more from behind the arc as the Senecas built the lead to 12. Seneca East worked it back down to six, but late in the second quarter on back-to-back possessions, Calvert came up with steals that turned into fast break layups for Marisa Horn and Kate Brickner.
"We got some very quick guards and we like to get up and pressure the ball," Ritzler said. "We did a really good job of trying to get our hands in passing lanes, create turnovers, contest shots. We did an excellent job of that. ... The girls do a great job of not only on-the-ball, but the help-defense, and not letting them get all the way to the rim. That's just the girls' hard work. They work hard on defense and that's something we try to pride ourselves on."
"Defensively, we were a little slow at first, but we picked it up and our girls definitely took over and took them down," Funkhouser added.
Twice in the third period Seneca East got 3-pointers, one from Depinet and one from Ashton Daniel, to get within eight, but Funkhouser responded at the other end each time to put the lead back in double digits.
The lead stood at 11, 49-38, entering the fourth quarter, when Calvert went on a 16-4 run to put the game away.
"We got away from doing what we are capable of doing best," Seneca East coach Dave Stallings said. "We need to push the ball up the floor and put pressure on the defense and we stopped doing that and played into their hands a little bit. They play good pressure defense; I'm not taking anything away from Calvert at all. They just play a good pressure defense and we got away from what we're best at. That's the way it goes."
Seneca East was led by Daniel with 14 points and six rebounds. Depinet added 13 while Brittany Brookes chipped in 12.
"Emily ... she was sick all day. She came back, came off the bench and hit some 3's," Stallings said. "Ashton, we expect that out of her. Brittany, she's coming a long way as a junior point guard. There's good things, but sometimes turnovers hurt you. Our points off of turnovers was not nearly as good as what Calvert's points off turnovers was."
Funkhouser's 22 points paced Calvert. Olivia Smith added 12 points and eight rebounds while Brickner finished with 11 points, as Calvert (2-1, 1-0) opened up MAL play on a victorious note.
Funkhouser said it's the first step in the team reaching its goal.
Its definitely our goal to win the MAL," she said. "We were ranked sixth, and this is where we needed to start. This win definitely did a lot for us and will get us going."
"Any time you can get a win in this league to start off the season, it's important," Ritzler said. "We got goals of trying to win the league just like everybody else and it starts with the first game. You got to get your first win."
