Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – The season that Gabby Marty couldn’t wait to get started opened with a half of basketball the Solon junior would just as soon forget.

Marty spent much of the first half of Tuesday’s season opener against Vinton-Shellsburg on the bench with three early fouls.

“I was so excited for this game, I couldn’t wait for tonight,” Marty said. “So, the first half was frustrating for sure.”

After halftime Marty quickly showed why she was so excited to get on the court.

Marty scored 12 of her 14 points during a 16-6 run to open the third quarter as Solon (1-0) broken open an eight-point halftime game on its way to a 51-33 win over Vinton-Shellsburg (0-1) in the season opener for both teams in Solon.

Limited to two points on two field goal attempts in the first half, Marty made her first five shots in the third quarter to help Solon build an 18-point lead it would never give up.  

“She is a huge asset to us for sure,” Solon coach Lisa Bishop said. “She provides size and she is so smooth around the basket and really knows how to play that post position in a way that we haven’t had for a while.”

With Marty sidelined with foul trouble the offensive burden fell to senior Brianna Smith in the first half.

Smith had 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first half as Solon used its full-court pressure defense and 14 first-half offensive rebounds to build a 22-14 halftime lead.

“I would say that our defense has definitely picked up a lot from last year, we have been pushing that a lot in practice,” Smith said. “Our defense turns into our offense.”

Solon missed its first nine field goal attempts and shot just 26 percent from the floor in the opening half but used its full court pressure to force 19 first-half Vinton-Shellsburg turnovers.

Vinton-Shellsburg finished with 24 turnovers and Solon held the Vikings to 33 percent shooting and had a 34-26 rebounding edge.

“When you can’t make shots you have to play defense,” Bishop said. “We were able to play good defense and rebound well when we weren’t making shots.”

Smith finally got Solon on the board after its rough start with a put back basket with 4:44 left in the opening quarter.

The 5-foot-7 Smith averaged 5.8 points per game a year ago but provided a much-needed offensive spark early on Tuesday with Marty on the bench.

“I think now that she is a senior she has that confidence,” Bishop said of Smith. “She loves basketball more than anyone I think I have been around so she provides passion to this team that the girls gravitate towards.”

With Marty back on the block in the second half the Solon offense got going.

The 5-foot-10 junior scored eight points in the opening three minutes of the second half as Solon took a 32-18 lead.

“I was just trying to get back in there and do my best and not foul,” Marty said. “We were doing a lot better job of moving the ball around and including everyone and looking inside at the post to get more of an in and out motion offense.”  

A 17-foot jumper by Marty with 2:49 left in the third quarter gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game at 36-20 and a Smith layup on the next Spartan possession pushed the lead to 38-20.

The prescence of Marty in the paint loosened the perimeter defense on Smith and sophomore Jenna LaDage who finished with seven points.

“She is definitely a big help down low,” Smith said of Marty. “She is really good inside, she can get around people and that is always helpful to have that other option than to just have five guards outside.”

Junior Saige Hauer added nine points for Solon which shot 67 percent from the field in the second half.

“I think it really sets the tone coming out with a win in the first game,” Marty said. “There is still a lot to work on for sure but this is a good way to start.”

Solon                           13  9  20  9   –  51 

Vinton-Shellsburg         5   9   9  10  –  33

Solon (51) – Saige Hauer 4-8 1-6 9, Gabby Marty 7-11 0-0 14, Brianna Smith 7-12 1-2 16, Jenna LaDage 3-12 0-0 7, Erin Kerkhoff 2-9 0-0 4, Abby Smith 0-3 1-2 1, Team 23-55 3-10 51.

Vinton-Shellsburg (33) – Elly Gloede 0-2 0-0 0, Lucy Howes-Vonstein 2-6 0-0 5, Olivia Erhardt 1-5 0-0 3, Taryn Sutton 1-6 1-2 3, Denise Perez 0-3 1-2 1, Davia Herger 2-6 0-0 4, Josie Sagan 1-4 2-2 4, Aza Swayzer 3-4 0-0 7, Kailey Bahmann 3-4 0-0 7, Team 13-40 4-6 33.

3-point field goals – SOL 2-9 (Smith 1-4, LaDage 1-5), VS 3-10 (Gloede 0-1, Howes-Vonstein 1-3, Erhardt 1-4, Sutton 0-1, Bahmann 0-1). Rebounds – SOL 34 (Hauer 7), VS 26 (Swayzer 8). Turnovers – SOL 18, VS 24. Total fouls – SOL 10, VS 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.