Skip to main content

Defensive mindset spurs Golden Knights to win


The Northeastern Bobcats and the Eastern York Golden Knights were tied heading into the third quarter on Tuesday night.

After playing a solid first two quarters, Northeastern watched the momentum shift in the third after a 34-26 lead slipped away. The Bobcats weren’t able to turn things around in their favor and in the end fell to Eastern 63-49.

“We really amped up the defense,” Golden Knights head coach Cheryl Land said about her team’s third-quarter performance. “A little bit more ball pressure. Some really key steals. It’s about defensive rebounding and I thought we really shored that up in the second half.

“In the first half I didn’t feel we were playing our best defensive game.”

The first half of the game saw Northeastern’s Jordyn Kloster hit field goal attempt after field goal attemp. She put up 16 of the Bobcats 24 points in the first half. Despite her strong performance the Golden Knights kept pace with Northeastern and the half ended even at 24.

The Bobcats (2-3, 1-2) opened the third quarter by taking a 34-29 lead, but Eastern quickly swung the momentum of the game with their defensive pressure and were able to enter the fourth quarter once again tied.

The Golden Knights (2-4, 2-2) kicked off the game’s final quarter with an 8-0 run before Kloster hit her only shot of the second half. By then the Golden Knights had a seven point lead and the Bobcats could not catch their Division II foe.

Kloster finished the game with 18 points for the Bobcats, while Hannah Myers had a 24 point performance for the Golden Knights. Myers also shot 3-for-4 from the free throw line.

“She slashed, she played great defense,” Land said about Myers’ performance. “We gave her the responsibility to handle Jordyn (Kloster). Hannah’s only a sophomore and she did a nice job with her… Hannah had a real strong game.”

After the loss, Bobcats coach Gary Sutton credited Eastern on their transition game.

“They were attacking us,” he said. “We weren’t really slowing the ball down and I thought that was really a key point.”

Eastern York 63, Northeastern 49

Northeastern (49)

Kendra Meyer 0 6-6 15, Pizzino 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Heim 0 0-0 0, Maxfield 0 0-0 0 Schrotter 4 0-0 8, Sanchez 1 1-4 6, Young 0 0-0 0, Baker 0 0-0 0, Feeser 0 0-0 0 Jordyn Kloster 5 2-4 18, Bitting 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0. Totals — 11 9-14 49.

Eastern York (63)

Tillotson 3 0-2 9, Cassidy Arnold 6 0-0 12, Gallentine 1 0-0 2, Bartch 2 4-6 8, Lehman 0 0-0 0 LaCesa 1 1-2 3, Hannah Myers 9 3-4 24, Smeltzar 0 0-0 0, Winter 0 0-0 0. Totals — 24 9-15 63.

Northeastern _ 12 _ 12 _ 14 _ 11 _ — _ 49  

Eastern York_ 15 _ 9 _ 14 _ 25 _ — _ 63

3-point goals — Northeastern 6 (Meyer 3, Sanchez 1, Kloster 2), Eastern York 2 (Tillotson 1, Myers 1).