Part of the formula

Officially settled into her role, transfer Banks helps Lions trounce Bears

By John Cannon jcannon@newspost.com

Walkersville’s Megan Allen, top, and Oakdale’ Sarah Case struggle for possession as Zoe Star, right, attempts to assist during the Lions’ win over the Bears on Friday night at Oakdale High

Earlier this season, senior guard Amiah Banks was getting used to being a member of Walkersville’s girls basketball team.

“I was new, and I wasn’t really fast in picking up the chemistry of the team,” said Banks, who moved to the area from upstate New York. “But after a while, we’ve been working pretty good together.”

Friday’s game backed up that assessment.

Before leaving the game with a knee injury late in the third quarter, Banks had a game-high 14 points and was one of several players who helped the Lions avenge an early-season loss to Oakdale by beating the Bears 44-25.

The Lions showed the strides they have made since losing to the Bears 55-48 on Dec. 12, particularly with the way they dominated in the first quarter.

Routinely getting stops on defense and finding open players with nice passes on offense, Walkersville (9-4) led 15-1 by the end of the first quarter.

“Tremendous start,” said Lions coach Troy Bolyard, who filled in for head coach Rick Little (illness). “Overall, we did a lot of things right on defense, which got us some easy looks on the offensive end.

 “We attacked in the first quarter, which I think gave us an opportunity to kind of get them out of rhythm and really get in some kind of rhythm,” he said.

 Banks, who scored the game’s first points on a transition layup, junior forward Chidera Ogwulu (10 points) and junior guard Megan Allen (10 points) all contributed buckets to Walkersville’s strong start.

 “Our energy was really high,” Allen said. “We usually start slow, but this time we actually came out strong, and we ended strong, so it really helped.”

 While Banks wasn’t around for the final quarter to help put the finishing touch on the win, she did her part to help fend off Oakdale’s comeback attempt.

 Oakdale’s Sam Foster, who was seeing her first action this season for Oakdale after being sidelined with a collarbone injury, hit a jumper to narrow Walkersville’s lead to 20-15 with 7 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter.

 But Banks contributed a pair of 3s and another jumper to a 10-2 run that helped the Lions regain a double-digit lead that they kept the rest of the night.

 “She’s a little instant offense there when she gets it going,” Bolyard said.

Unfortunately, Banks hurt her left knee while going in for a layup with 1:17 left in the third. Lying on a trainer’s table with an ice pack on her knee after the game, Banks said an Oakdale player’s knee hit hers on the play.

She was Walkersville’s top scorer heading into the game, averaging 12.3 points a game, and her status was uncertain.

But while Banks watched from the bench in the fourth quarter, the Lions preserved their lead by scoring all their points in the period on free throws — they hit 12 of 13 from the foul line in the fourth.

Ogwulu’s short jumper at the third-quarter buzzer was Walkersville’s final field goal. While she had a solid night of scoring, she often focuses on rebounding and defense — she likes playing man-to-man.

“If I don’t score, I’m not going to be mad if I helped another person score,” she said.

As for Allen, Bolyard called her a “quarterback” for the Lions, and she played that part on Friday, finishing with seven steals and three assists.

 “Usually I get mad when I turn the ball over,” she said. “So I want to go back and get the ball to give my teammates an opportunity to score and to make up for my turnover.”

 Eve Bernardoni had six rebounds for Walkersville.

 Oakdale was glad to have Foster and Rylee Schwee (who was sidelined with a concussion) return to their lineup Friday, but Foster left the game with a serious shoulder injury at the 4:43 mark of the third quarter.

 Foster’s status was uncertain.

 Sarah Case (who hit a pair of 3s) and Meghan Carlson each led the Bears (10-3) with six points. Tiana Jackson had six rebounds, while Carlson had five. Case had four steals.

 “First quarter was one of those anything that can go wrong will go wrong for you,” Oakdale coach Rob Healy said. “But we certainly had no quit. And to be honest, there was no panic.

 “I was confident in our team that we were going to fight back, and we did,” he said. “We just didn’t make enough plays, and credit to Walkersville making plays.”

Walkersville won the JV game 39-27. Payton Moots led the Lions with 11 points, and Grace Carey led the Bears with 12 points.