The old saying that defense wins basketball games was in full force on Saturday, as the Bethel Lady Bees accomplished a rare feat during their 37-9 rout of Arcanum in a Cross Country Conference game.

It was impressive enough that Bethel held Arcanum scoreless after the first quarter ended, but when the Trojans misfired at the halftime buzzer, the Lady Bees pulled off the improbable.  They didn’t allow Arcanum to dent the scoreboard in the entire first half. 
“That’s kind of hard to believe, but when we went in at halftime, we didn’t focus on that too much,” said Bethel coach Ed Quicnel.  “I wrote a “16” on the board because we should have scored more than that on offense.”
Bethel scored their first field goal nearly three minutes into the game, as Katelyn Cripps scored on a layup, giving Bethel a 3-0 lead.  Kendal Banks and Brook Cornett added baskets for the Lady Bees increased their lead to 7-0 midway through the period.
When Mercedes Nelson and Cornett capped the first quarter with scores, the Lady Bees enjoyed an 11-0 lead after one.
The halftime talk from Quincel came after a lethargic second quarter, as the Lady Bees struggled to score only five points, as Casey Seale and Nelson produced all of their offense.  But the Bethel defense continued to force turnovers and they went into the locker room at the half leading 16-0.
“We went into the game and didn’t tell the girls much about their opponent,” Quincel said.  “We wanted to just keep the same formula, and play good aggressive pressure and man to man defense against them.”
“The kids seem to ease up a bit when you get up big,” he added.  “If they make a couple of quick baskets on us, they are right back in the game.”
Bethel came out and increased their intensity, scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter.  Emily Ellerbrock scored her first points of the game with an old fashioned three-point play, and a following layup to make it 22-0.
“The girls came out and pressure them to start the second half,” Quincel said.  “I was afraid they would come out of the locker room without the intensity.”
Later trailing 28-0, Arcanum finally drew a roar from their crowd as they scored on layup at the 3:15 mark of the quarter. 
Bethel nearly went the final five minutes of the third quarter without a score, but Ellerbrock scored another three point play, and they led 31-4 heading to the fourth.
The Lady Bees outscored Arcanum 6-5 in the final period, with Seale scoring four of the six Bethel points, as they advanced to their seventh win of the season.
“We have been working on some different things in practice to help with intensity,” Quincel said.  “We have to build that confidence.”
Bethel returns to action at Bradford on Thursday before heading to Anna on Saturday afternoon to face the once-beaten Lady Rockets.