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BAKER — There would be no slow start for Baker girls basketball coach Brian Wagner to worry about Monday night as the Gators hosted Northview in a District 2-1A game.
Cassidy Anderson hit a 4-point play 31 seconds into the game to ignite a 19-0 Baker run as the Gators made short work of the Chiefs 49-26.
“It felt really good for us to come out and play the way we are capable of playing,” Wagner said. “That’s the first time that’s happened. I’m real proud of that, but I’d like to see us sustain it throughout a game.
“We had several girls hit some buckets pretty quick and that gives you confidence any time that happens.”
Anderson, who led all scorers with 21 points, was fouled as she sank a 3-pointer from the right baseline and made the free throw to give the Gators (11-6, 4-4) the quick lead they would never relinquish. Anderson finished the first quarter with 12 points scoring from both inside the paint and beyond the 3-point arch.
Anderson scored Baker’s first 10 points before Sarah Hudson got into the act with back-to-back baskets to up the Gator lead to 14-0. A Kathryn Quigg 3-pointer to put the Gators up 19-0 with 1:35 left in the first quarter followed Anderson’s final score of the first period.
Northview finally got on the scoreboard with a1:03 left in the period. A Bethany Chestnut free throw for Baker made it 20-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Chiefs never got any closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
Northview as able to mount a small rally against the Gator backups in the second quarter, but the Chiefs never came close to cutting the Baker lead to under 10 points.
Anderson added five points in the second quarter, Chestnut scored four points and Lily Phillips two points as Baker led 31-13 at the half.
Haley Wagner hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Gators in the third period to keep the momentum in Baker’s favor.
Anderson finished off her big night with a basket in the third quarter and a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter. Fittingly, the free throws were the final points of the game as Anderson helped finish the route she started.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Anderson, Gators pound Northview