Menu
Comets trounce Rhema in home opener
The Cottey College Comets basketball team got their season off to a strong start Tuesday night, as they defeated the Rhema Bible College Lady Eagles by a final score of 77-51.
Both teams started off the game getting good looks from the perimeter, but the Lady Eagles were able to come out on the better end as the Comets were unable to convert on their early perimeter opportunities. Both defenses came out strong in the first half and were able to hold the game to a fairly low score in the opening minutes.
"The thing I was impressed with right off was our defense," Comets head coach Dave Ketterman said.
Cottey's defense had some trouble early in the game with defending the strong perimeter shooting exhibited by Rhema and allowed the Lady Eagles to keep the game reasonably close by allowing five treys in the opening half. But the Comets were able to make up for their slight perimeter struggles with solid defense in the paint that held Rhema's inside shooting strongly in check.
The Comets were quickly able to find and exploit every hole that the Lady Eagle defense showed as well, sinking shots in the paint almost at will through much of the game. In addition to their strong inside play, the Comets shot very well from the free-throw line in the first half, --shooting 10-for-14 -- while the Lady Eagles missed both shots in their only trip to the stripe in the first half.
By the end of the half, Cottey's strong defense allowed them to seemingly take control of the game, heading to the locker room with a 33-25 lead.
The second half got off to a very similar start for the Comets as they came out showing an even stronger defensive presence and outscoring Rhema 14-4 in the first five minutes. Strong inside shooting and good open looks on the perimeter for the Comets continued to be the thorn in the Lady Eagles' side in the opening minutes of the second half as Cottey was able to continue their rhythm and fast pace from the first half and slowly extended their lead.
"I thought the kids did a nice job of finding the open player, which was a weakness of ours last year," Ketterman said. Both teams struggled from the stripe in the second half, however, as the Comets made just five of 17 shots and Rhema hit five of 12.
Midway through the half, the Lady Eagles started to punch up their inside pressure, so the Comets simply adjusted the game plan and started to take more shots from the perimeter -- with much better luck this time than in the first half. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Comets were able to outscore Rhema 17-6 to extend their lead to 50-31 and never let up for the rest of the game.
As the minutes wore on, the Lady Eagles became less and less able to keep pace with Cottey's offense and slowly slipped further behind before eventually falling, 77-51. "We've already had seven scrimmages, which gave us an advantage," Ketterman said. "I think we're in better shape overall and deeper than them."
After the game, Ketterman spoke very highly of his players and the performance they gave in the game, citing strong defense and simply being able to outpace Rhema due to their conditioning as keys to the victory. The Comets were able to keep control of the ball as well, finishing the game with 22 assists and just 12 turnovers.
Ketterman was also very impressed with the performance of one player in particular, freshman guard Diamond Hurst. "Diamond is the first point guard we've had here," he said. "She did really well getting us what we needed."
The Comets will now be able to enjoy a 10-day break before going into their next contest on the road at the Ozark Christian Classic on Nov. 14, in Joplin.