With its trio of six-footers in foul trouble, Derby turned to a pair of tinier – but talented – juniors.
Chandler Benway did the dirty work while Madi Greenwood sliced up Campus' interior defense to lead Derby to a 60-50 victory.
The Panthers diligently worked for a 20-14 lead over Campus after one quarter, but it deteriorated. As Alyxis Bowens, Mackenzie Holcomb and Kim Carbonell each picked up three fouls, the Colts began to make a move.
Brianna Bosley tied the game at 22 with a 3-pointer for Campus. Given more time, Jordan Keck swished a pair of free throws to give the Colts a 27-26 advantage with 3:25 remaining in the second quarter.
“We go out there and that press – they got us on that press,” Benway said. “We get a little flustered sometimes. We just have to calm down and do it.”
Greenwood soon began her attack, hitting two field goals to give Derby a 30-27 lead heading into halftime.
Campus cut the deficit to one to open the third, but the Panthers reeled off 10 straight points, capped by a driving layup from Greenwood to take a 40-29 lead.
“Madi has every shot there is on the court. She can shoot it halfcourt, layup – she makes everything,” Benway said. “I know if I give the ball to Madi, I can trust her to get in there and make a basket no matter what.”
Derby extended its lead to as much as 15 in the fourth quarter.
Greenwood finished with a career-high 26 points, but her big night was made possible by the grinding contributions of Benway.
Benway stood tall in the paint, swarming to eight rebounds. When Greenwood needed another option on offense, Benway was there with a baseline jumper on her way to 13 points.
“Chandler knows her role – her role is to get rebounds, get putbacks and give me great energy on defense,” said Caleb Smith, Derby head coach. “She accepts that role and takes it at 100 miles per hour.”
The Panther defense was potent, keeping Campus to 28 percent shooting.
“I think we're pretty happy. We played really good defense,” Greenwood said. “We've been really working on it in practice, but I think there are still places to improve.”
Bosley led the Colts with 12 points. Kyra Ivy added 10.
The Panthers face a stiff test against Maize on Tuesday.
“The beginning and the end were something to be excited about. I think we showed how good of a team we can be,” Smith said. “If we play like that for four quarters, we can play with the best of them – we can play with the Salina Centrals and the Maizes.”
