SANGER — Denton had little trouble making baskets when it had the chance to shoot on Tuesday night against Sanger.

Unfortunately for the Lady Broncos, they didn’t get to shoot the ball enough.

DRC/Al Key

Sanger guard Reagan Miller, left, knocks the ball away from Denton guard Jasmine Taylor on Tuesday in Sanger. The Lady Indians cruised to a 66-51 victory.

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Led by a tough Sanger full-court press defense and guard Reagan Miller’s 24 points, the Lady Indians dominated the Lady Broncos most of the night for a 66-51 win at Indian Gym.

The Lady Indians were in Denton’s faces all night. They stole balls, they forced bad passes and they frustrated the Lady Broncos into 34 turnovers.

“We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half and we didn’t get to get to the basket,” said Denton head coach Dennis Kriskha, whose team shot better than 50 percent most of the night. “You can’t expect to come back if you have that many turnovers, especially in the first half.”

Right from the get-go Denton (5-5) had trouble advancing the ball. It had six turnovers during the first two minutes of the game and at one point in the first quarter it turned the ball over on eight consecutive possessions.

Sanger (8-3) coach Jack Armstrong said the strategy heading into the game was to get in Denton’s faces.

“We want to get after people,” he said. “I have a lot people who know how to get after it. We were trapping and taking the ball away from their best players.”

By the end of the first quarter, the box score had 16 turnovers for Denton and at halftime the Lady Broncos had 29 miscues.

“We didn’t make adjustments,” Krishka said. “We panicked too much.”

Sanger’s defense led to easy buckets for its offense and a 17-6 lead after the first quarter.

But the Lady Broncos didn’t roll over and stop playing.

Denton was able to cut the lead to four at 22-18 with three minutes left in the first half.

Then Miller took over.

The smooth-shooting guard sparked a 13-0 run with two treys and a couple of free throws to help Sanger to a 35-22 lead at the break.

“We gave her those wide-open looks,” Krishka said. “We knew what she was going to do; we just had to do a better job of guarding her.”

She scored 16 of her 24 points in the first 16 minutes and also dished out five assists and tallied six steals by game’s end.

“She makes my job easier,” Armstrong said. “She is definitely the quarterback out there and it makes it easy for us when she can get the ball out there on the floor.”

Sanger pulled off most of the pressure in the second half, but it almost came back to bite the Lady Indians.

Led by guard Jasmine Taylor, Denton slowly chipped away at the lead and cut it to eight points at 49-41 early in the fourth quarter.

“I have to give our kids credit,” Krishka said. “They kept digging back. But it was too big of a climb back. We always stayed in reach, but we just didn’t get over the hump.”

Armstrong was impressed with Denton’s fight, but also added he felt his team lost some intensity in the final quarter.

“We didn’t play as well as we did defensively in the second half,” he said. “But you have to give Denton credit. They scrapped their way back in.”

The eight-point deficit was as close as Denton got as Sanger fed off of a technical foul to go on an 11-2 run to seal the win.

The loss spoiled a big night for Taylor, who scored a game-high 26 points for Denton.

“Jasmine is in her second year of varsity now and she knows it is time to step up and lead us,” Krishka said. “It is a growing process for her. I thought she responded very well after a rugged first quarter to play three solid quarters of basketball.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is mmuench@dentonrc.com .

Sanger 66, Denton 51

Denton (5-5) – Jamecia Brown 2, Jasmine Taylor 26, Kaille Ralston 8,Dominique Riley 2, Alex Pollard 5, Erica Mendoza 7.

Sanger (9-3) – Reagan Miller 24, McKaylyn Hartman 4, Taylor Jones 4, Julieh Clark 2, Payton Carpenter 7,Brittany Futch 6, Brooke Rhodes 1, Shayne Wright 6, Lauren Pethel 9, Haley Cain 1.