Goodwin Guides Savages Past Bears with Career High 22 Points

NORTH ENGLISH—On January 26, the English Valleys Bears girls basketball team hosted the Sigourney Savages for a matchup of two top teams in the SICL-East. The Savages stormed out with the 48-39 victory.

Sigourney senior Carly Goodwin set the tone of the game in the first quarter, as she dropped eight points with two triples, and the Savages secured a 10-7 lead. 

The Bears fought back and took their first lead at 17-16 midway through the second quarter. Goodwin quickly found a lane on the other end, and retook the lead for the Savages. She finished with 12 first half points, as the Savages held a 19-17 lead. 

The big difference in the second half came from the free throw line. The Savages made 26 trips to the charity strip, and knocked down 19 of those opportunities as a team. On the other hand, the Bears made 13 trips to the line in the second half, but only got six points out of that.

The Savages out-scored the Bears 29-22 in the second half en route to the 48-39 victory over the Bears. 

Senior Carly Goodwin led the Savages with a career high 22 points, with a perfect free throw percentage on the eight opportunities she had. Goodwin also added five rebounds, three assists and one steal.

When asked about the confidence that comes from seeing your first shot fall, Goodwin responded with, “I think it’s really good to see the first one go through and then your confidence build up through the rest of the game. That was really great to have.”

Goodwin spoke on her perfect night from the free throw line with, “We each shoot 20 free throws at practice. I also focus on them at home when I am by myself. I know it’s a given point to knock them down, and they win games, like they did tonight. It was really nice to be able to make all those.”

Sigourney Head Coach Schay Moore spoke on her team going 20/28 from the free throw line with, “It is one of those things that with the new rule change, we talked about how big making your free throws will be in games like this, and we really worked hard on them. I am glad to see it pay off.”

Lastly, Coach Moore described the mentality she wants her team to have with, “I talked to those girls all year long about I will put our whole team against any other team, and I think tonight really showed that.”

The Savages push to 10-4 on the season with a conference record of 5-4. They return to action on January 29, when they host the Wilton Beavers.

The Bears fall to 10-6 with a conference record of 7-4.They will return to action on January 27, when they visit the Montezuma Bravettes for a make-up game.