Swanton’s Frankie Nelson lays one in Friday night against Delta. Nelson had 14 second half points and 23 on the night to help the Bulldogs come back and earn a 45-36 victory.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
Sophia Burres of Delta hoists up a 3-point attempt Friday night. She paced the Panthers with 11 points.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
Trista Eitniear with a shot for Swanton during Friday’s season opening win.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
During the game there were more turnovers than Hostess could feed a pre-school class during break time for a week.
But in the end it was the best player on the floor who took the cake and put a cherry on top as Frankie Nelson scored 14 second half points to bring Swanton back from an 11-point deficit to a 45-36 win over Delta Friday in non-league girls basketball.
“She definitely carried us in the second half,” veteran Swanton Coach Eric Oakes said. “Scoring, rebounding, had some steals. Frankie definitely was the best player tonight.”
After Nelson and Trista Eitniear scored every Bulldog point in the first to give Swanton a 10-8 edge after eight minutes, the Bulldogs went into the icebox in the second quarter going 1-16 from the floor.
“Trista Eitniear did some really good things early to keep us going, getting rebounds to get us a couple buckets when we were struggling shooting the ball,” explained Oakes.
Alani Haas scored a transition hoop after a Swanton turnover to tie the game with 6:21 left in the half, then Jersey Irelan’s bucket gave the Panthers a 12-10 lead.
Two triples by Sophia Burres, then Burres’ football pass to Grace Munger for a basket and Haas’ pull-up jumper with 27 ticks left in the quarter boosted the Panther lead to 24-13 at half.
However in the third, it was Delta’s turn to go stone cold (1-12), and the Panthers added 11 turnovers — most of them unforced — that Swanton , especially Nelson, took advantage of.
Nelson began the Bulldog comeback with a bucket 17 seconds into the third.
Katie Floyd and Nelson hit 3-4 from the foul line, then Alaina Pelland scored on a three-point play off yet another Delta turnover to chop the Panther lead to 25-21.
Pelland’s deep deuce brought Swanton even at 27 with 1:54 left, then Nelson went to work again, filling up on Delta turnovers to give Swanton the lead.
The athletic senior turned a blueberry turnover into a pull-up jumper with 1:19 left, giving the Bulldogs a 29-27 lead. Then, 47 ticks later, she made a sweet looking left-to-right floater to double the lead.
After finishing the third on a 10-0 run, Swanton made the burst 15 when Eitniear split two free throws and corralled a loose ball on the next possession for a layup.
Nelson finished the lengthy scoring run off yet another Delta turnover, this one a peach filled foul line jumper that dropped through with 6:00 to go.
Munger’s triple at the 5:27 mark got the Panthers back to a 36-31 deficit, but that was as close as Delta would get as Swanton scored six straight capped by Floyd’s layup out of the spread.
“We just responded in the second half,” Oakes stated. “I felt they were much more physical than us in the first half and taking the ball away from us. We addressed that at halftime and our kids responded in the second half. They showed us something. Jayden Hendricks played well defensively, and ‘P,’ Alaina Pelland was a key on defense too.”
Nelson knocked down 23 for the game to lead all scorers. Burres had 11 for Delta.
After shooting 15 percent from the floor in the first half, Swanton was a more creditable 9-21 in the second.
Delta shot 12-41 for the game.
And those turnovers? Swanton had 22, while the Panthers filled a triple dozen box with 36.
“Obviously there were a lot of mistakes out there,” Oakes said with a smile. “The way we responded to our mistakes with a 33-12 run in the second half was pretty amazing but we have got a long way to go and have to get a lot better.”
