BonnerSprings.com

A lot can happen that is right when a team values the basketball. Just ask the Bonner Springs Bravettes.

All season they have struggled with turnovers — especially in the first half, but on Friday night at home they were nearly flawless in the destruction of the Turner Lady Bears, 55-24.

The improved play from sophomore point guard Yessenia Hernandez led the charge for the Bravettes off the bench. She turned in her best game of her career as she knocked down two 3-pointers and led a furious fast-break over and over again on her way to scoring 10 points.

“I just feel like I have more confidence right now,” said Hernandez, who recently played some games at the junior varsity level to regain her confidence. “(The JV games) really helped me out. The games were way slower and I just got down to business. I feel really comfortable right now and am really not nervous anymore. I am having fun.”

Her coach has noticed a stark difference in her recent play.

“Yessenia has had a couple of good games in a row and she is on a roll,” coach Clay Oakes said. “She is just a different player than she was a couple of weeks ago.”

Starting freshman point guard Haley Hoffine got BSHS started with six points during a 12-0 run in the first quarter.

Bonner scored 35 points in the first half, but the Bravettes left several points off the board by going a chilly 12-for-26 from the free throw line. But it didn’t matter.

“Each night we play, our opponent seems to go to the line (twice as much) as us so we tried to focus on getting there tonight,” Oakes said.

While Bonner played a fluid game on the offensive side of the court, Oakes credits the other half of the game for the dominating victory.

“I felt like our defensive pressure set the tone to the point where they couldn’t get into their offense,” Oakes said. “Yes, we also put a lot of points on the board tonight. We always tend to have one down quarter, but tonight that wasn’t the case.”

In the third quarter, Bonner crushed Turner with a 17-3 run that forced the game to end with a continuous clock in effect.

The victory was the Bravettes’ second in a row and gave them a season sweep of Turner.

“We have some pretty tough games here coming up, but if we put together four quarters like we (did tonight) we are going to be right there in those games,” Oakes said.

LOUISBURG BEATS BSHS

The Bonner Springs girls dropped a non-league Tuesday at Louisburg, 67-50.

The Bravettes fell behind 19-7 after the first quarter and never recovered. The teams were almost even for the final three quarters, but the early damage proved to be the difference.

Hernandez scored a game-high 18 points for BSHS and Lynsey Ostman added 15 in the loss.

The Bravettes (5-11 overall, 4-5 KVL) next play at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Mill Valley (8-9, 5-4).

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