Panthers rumble to victory behind Youngblood’s interior dominance, defensive pressure

QUINCY — From the opening tip, the Monroe City girls basketball team’s game plan was evident — feed the ball to Audri Youngblood to set the tone in the post and use pressure defense to discombobulate Burlington (Iowa) Notre Dame.

The Panthers accomplished each of those tasks in a 56-22 demolition of the Nikes in Monday’s game in the 17th Rumble on the River at the John Wood Community College Student Activity Center.

Youngblood’s layup five seconds into the game provided the first of the senior forward’s 20 points, 18 of which came in the paint. The other two tallies came on a pair of free throws.

“I love getting the ball down there,” Youngblood said.

That was all part of the plan against a Burlington Notre Dame team that features one player taller than 5-foot-8 and no one taller than 5-foot-10. The Panthers scored 42 of their 56 points in the paint.

“We can get it to (Youngblood) in a spot where she can use her athleticism and length,” Panthers coach Adam Rung said. “We were able to do that tonight — establish her and establish our inside game really well.”

Youngblood stayed under control when she got the ball near the rim, whether she was grabbing an offensive rebound or receiving an entry pass from one of the Panthers’ guards.

“She was patient and did a really good job of letting the game come to her,” Rung said. “She took advantage of the opportunities she had.”

Youngblood, a University of Kansas softball commit, said she is starting to find a rhythm.

“I feel like I definitely haven’t been where I was last year, so I’m kind of just getting back the mentality and abilities that I had at the end of the year last year,” Youngblood said. “It’s more of a confidence thing. Basketball isn’t my No. 1 sport, so I only really practice it one season out of the year. I just try to take that one season, run with it and do my best.”

Rung has noticed Youngblood beginning to turn a corner as well.

“She’s starting to really get her feet under her,” Rung said. “Sometimes it takes her until about Christmas break. She’s such an athletic kid, and she’s such a competitor, she’s hard on herself. We just tell her, ‘It’s going to come. Just relax and keep doing your thing.’ 

“I really think we saw her start clicking Thursday in our tournament against South Shelby, and you saw that carry over to the Highland game (on Friday). Hopefully now we get some more practices over break and she can carry that forward.”

Monroe City scored the first 14 points of the game and held Burlington Notre Dame without a point until a Daisy Hazell putback with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. The Panthers’ full-court press contributed to two 10-second violations in the first quarter, and Monroe City held the Nikes to just two made field goals in the first half.

“We try to get in peoples’ faces and pressure them a lot and make them turn it over so we can get the ball back,” Panthers junior guard Naaron Hays said.

The Panthers’ positioning both on and off the ball makes their press difficult to deal with.

“Keeping them in front, making them get rid of the ball and making sure our other players are denying them and stealing the passes that they’re trying to make,” Hays said.

That defense has enabled the Panthers to hold all but one of their first eight opponents to 50 points or less. Highland, the only team to eclipse eclipse 50, defeated the Panthers 56-53 in double overtime in the Monroe City Tournament third place game on Friday.

“That’s what we hang our hat on,” Rung said of the Panthers’ defense. “We’re not the biggest team, but we like to get out, pressure you and create tempo, and we were able to do that tonight.”

Monroe City will take on Mark Twain at home on Tuesday before resuming play at the Rumble on the River against Higbee at 6 p.m. Thursday.