Because of injuries, Ellen Shaffrey’s season started a little slower than her teammates’ so it’s taken the 2009 all-Jefferson District first teamer a little while to get into a groove.
That reprieve is over for Western’s opponents.
After a 22-point effort against Albemarle and a 16-point night against an undermanned Monticello in a 51-33 victory Monday night, Shaffrey is clearly finding her groove again.
“She didn’t practice with us other than riding an exercise bike until the day before our first game,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “The last two weeks were her preseason and now she looks very comfortable.”
Shaffrey also had six rebounds and a trio of steals in the win as well, making an impact all over the floor. Shaffrey anchored the Warriors on offense, but Western relied on a balanced scoring effort, with Carolyn Schneller scoring 10 points while Kelsey Swanson and Mady Baker had six each.
Baker’s defensive effort, however, proved key in the win as she continues to emerge as a defensive stopper in the role that Lexy Eckerle manned last season for the Warriors. Baker marked Monticello’s biggest offensive threat Bridgett Holleran man-to-man the entire night and managed to force the Mustangs’ sophomore guard who likes to get to the basket into tough shots and situations throughout the night.
“She’s really quick on her feet and she always likes to drive, so I knew with fouls I had to be cautious, she’s a good play,” Baker said. “I focused on trying to shut her down.”
The Mustangs, on the other hand, struggled to contain Shaffrey, but few teams have an answer for the Warriors’ senior post player. Monticello played admirably on defense, executing well against a crisp Western squad, but the Mustangs seem to lack the firepower to match a team with Western’s offensive depth. The Warriors didn’t manage to pull away until late in the second when Kathryn Crickenberger buried a 3-pointer to put Western up by eight at the break.
Until that point, Monticello was getting exactly what it wanted defensively, but turnovers on the offensive end were costly in the second quarter in particular.
“Our assistant coaches did a great ob of having a plan that took away some of their strengths and played to some of our strengths,” said Monticello coach Mike Mountjoy. “And (we) executed it very well. I think for 24 minutes (of the 32) we competed really really well with them. We’re growing as a team and we’re growing as a program.”
Still, Monticello got 14 points out of Holleran, who was guarded tightly by Baker all night, and may have found another defensive sparkplug in Emily Larabee, a standout sophomore forward in soccer, who came with a couple of tough steals and rebounds.
“She’s got tremendous energy — she’s a young player and she’s learning on the offensive end,” Mountjoy said. “But what we know we’re going to get from her is effort, energy and a physical presence.”
Monticello will take on Amherst next week while Western battles Louisa tonight on the road.
