HAGERSTOWN – Todd Bono has his one special golden rule of coaching.
“I try not to get into their way,” he said.
That’s a pretty pedestrian attitude when it comes to his Smithsburg girls basketball team. In reality, he might be the only who could stop the Leopards.
But, then again, why should he.
Smithsburg is a team in perpetual motion and North Hagerstown was the latest team to get caught in the current. The Hubs’ resistance proved to be futile on Tuesday in Smithsburg’s 57-27 victory.
“They are a strong team and they’re built on speed,” said North coach Charles “Sleepy” Burnett. “We couldn’t get in transition and we couldn’t run with them. They are the best team in the area.”
When the Leopards are in transition, they make stampedes look like lazy flash mobs.
Case in point.
North (0-1) opened the game with a 1-0 lead on Anna Chamberlain’s free throw in the game’s first 16 seconds.
That’s all it took for the Leopards (2-0) to pop their clutch. Smithsburg scored the game’s next 31 points over the next 11 minutes, 27 seconds to take a 31-1 lead with 4:17 remaining in the second quarter.
The Leopards did it with some thievery, but more with quick hands, tough inside defense and pouncing on loose balls. It was “get the ball and get down the floor as quickly as possible,” just to beat the Hubs to the basket.
The heck with set offenses. With traps like this, Baby, the Leopards are born to run.
“That’s our goal every game, really,” Bono said. “We just want to run. We control the pace and tempo. We have super athletes … super basketball players. We want deflections, interceptions and then turn around and go for right now.”
“Eventually, we are going to have to learn to play that halfcourt style. But right now, early in the season, we aren’t in great shape, either, so we just want to run and use this to get in shape.”
Claire Bono got Smithsburg started with seven points and early ballhandling in the first quarter to build a 20-1 lead. Skyla Mastronardi added six in the quarter to help extend the lead.
The pair keyed Smithsburg’s 11-0 run to start the second quarter to reach the 30-point lead. The run ended with Aaliyah Allen’s drive to the bucket for North’s first basket of the game to end the drought and make the score 31-3.
Smithburg got back on track by closing the half with a 13-5 run for a 44-8 lead at the intermission. Jayda Tyler joined the Leopards’ onslaught with eight of her 11 first-half points in the second quarter.
“Is playing this way fun? Of course,” said Claire Bono. “Our coach definitely pushes us in practice to run transition and push up the ball. We are a fast team, and we want to use that to our advantage.
“We try to share the ball. We try to get a fast start and get a big lead. Of course, our bench helps. They bring the energy and they push us to get better in practice.”
Smithsburg’s transition is like melted ice cream. It’s dense, yet fluid, and has no form as it spreads all over the floor.
“We have three, four girls who can play point guard right now,” Todd Bono said. “We have a rule is if you get (the ball), your first look is to dribble it down the floor. I thought they did a great job on not dribbling the air out of the ball. They just passed it up ahead.
“Jayda (Tyler) did a great job of rim running. She’s running to the rim and we’re finding her. If you run to the rim, our girls will throw it to you. They can throw the ball 60 feet and put it right there.”
North had a second adversary while trying to mount a second-half comeback. Time was literally against the Hubs.
By rule, once a team falls 35 points behind, the game is played with a running clock. North trailed by 36 at the half, allowing time to tick away, even during any stoppages of play.
A revised version of the rule compounded the problem. The losing team must rally to reach a 25-point deficit before the clock could return to regular rules.
Smithsburg jumped to a 49-11 lead before clearing the bench with about 6:00 left in the quarter. North ran off a 10-0 run to pull to within 49-21 by the end of the third quarter. Mya Henderson scored five tough points – three on foul shots – on the inside, while Allen and Payton Schnebly added 3s to cap the run.
“I was so proud of their second half and how they fought,” Burnett said. “They played with some pride. Remember the game of basketball – pass and cut, take your time and get back to the basics of fundamentals.
“I told the girls that this was one game out of 24, We have 23 more and we are going to build off this one.”
The Leopards opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to bump the lead to 57-21. Smithsburg cleared the bench again for the final 4:31 of the game as North used a pair of 3s by Schnebly to bring the final deficit to 30 points.
Mastronardi led Smithsburg with 17 points and nine assists, while Claire Bono added 15, along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Tyler finished with 14 points to give the Leopards a trio of double-figure scorers.
Schnebly led North with nine points – all on three-point shots – and Chamberlain added seven.
Meanwhile, Todd Bono plans to stay out of the Leopards’ way.
“Our expectations are super high,” he said “Last year, we went to the state semifinals. That’s our goal to get back there.”
