Tingle nears triple-double in win over East Canton

WEST LAFAYETTE - Entering the season Ridgewood junior Audrey Tingle felt the pressure.

She was labeled, the next go-to player for the Generals girls basketball team.

The 5-foot-6 point guard, who is extremely hard on herself, finished the day with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals  in Saturday's 48-29 win against East Canton.

"(Tingle) was all over the court tonight," coach Doug Patterson said. "But I don't know if she even played her best. She missed a couple open girls for passes, but she has the green light she can shoot when she wants."

In the midst of her eye-popping numbers she realized something else.

"I can rely on my team a lot," she said.

Yes, Tingle led the team in almost every offensive stat imaginable, but the way her teammates performed has allowed her to relax.

"I've put so much pressure on myself and now I'm realizing that my teammates can take some of the pressure off and that they are there for me, so that's really nice," Tingle said.

In a game the Generals never trailed in, senior Morgan McDorman was the second leading scorer with 12 points, junior Autumn Brown had a good game, though she only had three points, she added two steals, two assists and four rebounds. Kaitlyn Finton finished with two points and three rebounds.

But it was Erinn Buchanan who showed that Tuesday's 14 point and 11 rebound performance against River View wasn't an apparition. She is here to stay.

"She stepped up again," Tingle said. "I thought maybe it could've been a one-time thing, but I think she is proving herself. I'm really proud of her."

In only her second career varsity game, she tallied Buchanan totaled 11 points and 12 rebounds, her second straight double double.

"I thought she did another great job rebounding," coach Doug Patterson said. "She stepped in and played real well again. She knows where the ball is."

Buchanan didn't think she would be able to duplicate her Tuesday performance, but she said she thought she would do well.

"I just really want the ball," she said with a chuckle.

But with 5:57 left in the first quarter and a 4-0 lead her prediction looked like it may not come to fruition. Buchanan was down on the ground, in obvious pain, and was helped off the court favoring her knee.

The only thing she thought was that she wouldn't be able to play.

"My knee bent back and it locked, then I fell forward and then my ankle started hurting too," Buchanan said.

The Generals aren't deep, so even with this being the returning game for Eliza Haynes, Patterson was worried.

"We had four junior varsity players I could only use for a quarter and two JV players I could use for three quarters, so I was trying to figure out who could sub in," he said.

The Generals held their lead when Buchanan walked back to the scorers table after sitting out for two minutes.

"Erinn is tough she is always going to bounce back," Patterson said. "She said when she sat out she felt worse, so that's why we kept her playing."

The rest of the first half went on without a problem for the Generals, as they went into halftime leading East Canton 31-13. Ridgewood was leading the rebounding category 18-10 and steals 7-1. Patterson liked what he saw that half.

"I thought we worked the ball around really well when they were in man," Patterson said. "Things were good. I thought we were into it and the flow was good."

But in the second half he didn't like what he saw, as much, outscoring East Canton 17-16 in that half.

"We just didn't have the flow. On that team we could've made four or five passes and shot layups I think, instead we made two passes and shot a 20-footer," Patterson said.

A bright spot of the second half was the return of junior Eliza Haynes, who did not play in Tuesday's season opener. Haynes finished with two rebounds, two steals and one assist

"On offense she runs the floor well," Patterson said. "When she gets back completely healthy she is strong and quick. She is going to make us a better defensive team."

The Generals will be back in action Wednesday, as they host Malvern.

cteaguerob@gannett.com

740-295-3442

Twitter: @cj_teague

East Canton 7-6-5-11 — 29

Ridgewood 19-12-11-6 — 48

East Canton: 10-32 FG, 8-17 FT, 1-5 3pt. (Reichard 1) 18 rebounds (Griesen 6), 18 turnovers, Steals 5 (Yacklin, Kennedy, Fernandez, Loy, Reichard 1). Scoring: Yacklin 6 4-9 16; Reichard 3 0-0 5. Fernandez 1 0-0 2, Griesen 0 2-4 2, Mesely 1 0-0 2, Richards 0 2-2, 2

Ridgewood: 15-53 FG, 16-25 FT, 2-12 3pt. (McDorman 1, TIngle 1) 37 rebounds (Tingle 12, Buchanan 12 ), 6 turnovers, 7 Assists (Tingle 2, Brown 2), Steals 14 (Tingle 7). Scoring: Tingle 6 7-9 20; McDorman 5 1-4 12, Buhcanan 2 7-8 11, Brown 1 1-2 3, Finton 1 0-2 2