Mooresville continues dominance in girls basketball against rival Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — The girls' basketball rivalry between Martinsville and Mooresville has always been hotly contested. But it's no secret who's had the upper hand as of late.

Entering Tuesday's matchup, the Pioneers had won three of the last four meetings, including a blistering 74-17 win last season, but with both teams boasting young, improving rosters, there was an opportunity for it to be a competitive showdown. Mooresville shut that notion down quickly.

A 16-2 start turned into a 37-11 halftime lead in favor of the Pioneers. By the time it was over, Mooresville outscored the Artesians 51-17 for its 18th win over Martinsville in the last 28 meetings.

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"We were pretty disappointed after Friday's performance against Columbus East," Mooresville coach Mark Hurt said. "We came in shooting 33%, so it was really nice to see we shot 56% in the first half. We're keeping our turnovers down and when we put the ball in the basket, we can be a pretty decent team."

What made the difference

Mooresville's defense was relentless. The Pioneers stayed on the attack throughout the duration of the game, using the full-court press early and often to force Martinsville into making mistakes. With the Artesians piling up 23 turnovers, and shooting only 25%, the method proved effective.

"That was kind of the plan coming in," Hurt said. "We told the girls before the game that we want to put pressure on, but we don't want to foul. I thought we fouled too much in the first half, but overall I was pleased with the defensive effort."

Generating offense while under duress is something Martinsville's focused on, but with the youthful roster the Artesians have, it's difficult to replicate in practice. More often than not, the team's had to learn through real-time game situations.

"You're not going to beat very many people turning the ball over 20-plus times," Martinsville coach Dave Dorsett said. "It's hard to duplicate (the pressure) in practice. We try to create pressure with some of our coaches, but it's hard to duplicate game-type situations for the 4A schedule we play."

Eight of Martinsville's 17 points came from the free throw line. Due to Mooresville's defensive tenacity, the Artesians attempted only 16 shots.

By the numbers

Another game, another outpouring of points by Mooresville's Rachel Harshman. The junior's lived up to expectations, entering the game averaging 14.1 points and 9.3 rebounds. Tuesday, the junior notched 16 points, cashing in two triples to aid the effort. Junior Emma McGinley trailed shortly behind with 10 points, and Ava Shafer added seven.

On the Martinsville side, Marina Rautenkranz led the Artesians in scoring with seven points, followed by a four-point performance by Paycee Lewis.

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