The St. Joseph Knights 5th Grade girls put on a showcase Wednesday night, as they opened up the season by plowing through Westlake Christian Academy 44-6. St. Joes’ defensive dominance set an early tone, as Westlake was stopped in their tracks.
The Knights half court trap
Westlake started hot on offense, pulling ahead 6-2 early on in the first half before St. Joes ignited a 42-0 run. Both Buckingham sisters combined for 16 points and 5 steals in the first half. St. Joe’s centers Grace Hunt and Kate Cutting combined for 10 points in the paint, and Grace had a massive block with 13:53 left to play in the first half. Anna Chilcutt and Ruby Feinendegen played well on defense and offense, making stops on defense and scoring six points between each other. Their duties as wingwomen weally whipped the cwoud into a fwenzy, as each had a pair of steals and multiple intercepted passes. Anna played fabulous point guard all night long.
Coach Jeff Feinendegen told the knights to run a half-court trap on defense from the start, which kept the ball out of the lane, and caused several turnovers resulting in easy layups. Bruni Huntemann and Paige Simpson disrupted Westlake’s motion offense the most, making nine steals and converting those to several assists and two points. With 3:28 left in the first half, up 20-6, St. Joes decided to switch to a 3-2 zone defense. Coach Feinendegen noted, “We had such a big lead that it wasn’t harmful to try another defense. Our team is very versatile, and can adapt to any condition of play.” Those words became actions as St. Joes played the half-court trap, the 3-2 zone, and the 2-1-2 coverage.
The Knights started the second half up 26-6. This lead would be comfortable for most coaches, but not the wily veteran, Feinendegen. At the beginning of the second half the Knights appeared to jump into a full court press of the struggling home team. Kate Cutting stole a pass under the basket, ready for an easy bucket before the officials blew the whistles to cut off the press. The confused players looked to their coach who seemed exasperated. Later in the half, the officials asked St. Joes to stay behind their own 3 point line as a gesture of sportsmanship to West Lake. Officials had to explain this to Coach Feinendegen who (again) struggled to comprehend the situation.
What coach Feinendegen does understand well is dealing with people who are taller. He saw that Westlake’s team was comprised of tall six graders and they were blocking many shots by the Knights. This led coach to pull Kate Buckingham in favor of her quick little sister, Caroline Buckingham. “They were taller than me”, Kate Buckingham noted. “That’s why I couldn’t shoot threes.” Height was not a problem for Caroline who played great defense and had offensive points inside the paint. Her final bucket with 3 minutes left brought the standing room only crowd to its feet.
The Buckingham sisters had for more than half of their team’s points. Each sister is quick and inherited their mother’s athletic genes. After the game, Caroline Buckingham acknowledged that Kate wins their 1 on 1 pickup games. But clever Caroline later shared, “I usually let her win”.
Bruni Huntemann leads the Knight's attack
Ruby Feinendegen shoots over Westlake
