Nothing in baseball can match an ace pitcher, not even the weight of history.
FORT WAYNE – Canterbury girls basketball coach Scott Kreiger knew this year’s team could have a potent offense. So, when the Cavaliers got into the season and started scoring in abundance, he wanted to know where the team ranked in state history.
As it turns out, the Cavs could turn out to be the best ever.
After a little research on www.hickoryhusker.com, Kreiger realized his team’s average surpassed the known team high of 80.4 points per game by the 1992-93 Kokomo team.
“The last couple of years, we have been in the top two or three and never been No. 1,” said Kreiger, who was recently named the Indiana All-Star coach. “This year we have been No. 1.”
Even after scoring well under their average in winning last Saturday’s Caston Regional with 63 and 64 points in two wins, Canterbury is two points ahead of Kokomo’s pace at 82.4.
“We probably don’t run it as well as some of our teams in the past,” Kreiger said. “But the kids on the floor are so talented offensively that they can finish. In the second half of the season, they have learned to share the basketball so much better. We have kids who can finish a play and that’s where a lot of these points come from.”
The Cavaliers (23-2) have gone over 100 points three times and over 90 eight times.
“We just have to keep moving the ball and play together,” Canterbury sophomore Kindell Fincher said. “If we do that, then we are unstoppable. The pieces are starting to come together. We knew we had a lot of talent, but you have to use it wisely, and we use it during games to score.”
Unlike some high-scoring offenses, the points don’t come from a full-court press and layup opportunities. .
“We just go,” Kreiger said. “You will hear us a lot on the sidelines yelling ‘go, go, go.’ It’s a mindset. When that particular offense is humming along, it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
And the points come from different sources, including three players that average at least 18 points per game, Fincher (21 ppg), junior Bailey Farley (18.5) and freshman Darby Maggard (18.1), who are three of the top six scorers in northeast Indiana.
Teams have tried all kinds of defenses against Canterbury, including box-and-one and triangle-and-two.
“It’s hard to defend us and slow us down, but if you have the basketball we can’t score,” Kreiger said. “But you get caught up in the pace of the game sometimes, and it is hard to stay disciplined enough to avoid that.”
