|
Rob Potter | Democrat
ELDRED'S STEPHANIE BERGER holds onto the basketball with both hands while surrounded by Tuxedo defenders Emily Nicholas, left, Katie Munoz, center, and Lindsay Diffley, right, during Friday night’s OCIAA Division VI game. Among the players watching in the background are Berger’s teammates Gabby Westfall and Chantel Johnson, both of whom are behind Nicholas, and Ayla Englehart (4).
|
Tuxedo Tops Eldred
By Rob Potter
ELDRED — January 23, 2007 — The Tuxedo Lady Tornadoes wasted little time in grabbing the momentum and the lead in Friday night’s non-league basketball game against the host Eldred Lady Yellowjackets.
Tuxedo stormed out to a 9-0 advantage in the first six minutes of the contest. Lindsay Diffley recorded the first basket of the evening and converted a free throw about 35 seconds later and Rebecca Monteith added a pair of baskets during the Lady Tornadoes’ scoring run.
Tuxedo (7-5) extended its lead as the game continued and posted a 37-17 victory.
Many of the Lady Tornadoes’ points were scored on layups or short jump shots after they stole the ball or forced a Lady Yellowjackets’ turnover.
Eldred (1-10) did not get on the scoreboard until 2:11 remained in the first quarter. Junior forward Gabby Westfall made a pair of free throws after she was fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound.
But over the next 10 minutes of action, the Lady Tornadoes went on a 17-2 scoring run to take a 26-4 lead at halftime.
In a display of good sportsmanship, Tuxedo Coach Dave Powers liberally substituted his players throughout the second half.
Leading Tuxedo to its 20-point win were Monteith and Sarah Trapiani.
Monteith recorded a game-high 10 points, while Trapiani had eight points.
Emily Nicholas, Caitlin O’Keefe and Meredith Wolfe each added four points for the Lady Tornadoes.
Westfall paced the Eldred offense with eight points and teammate Chantel Johnson netted four points.
“We couldn’t get a shot to fall there for awhile,” Powers said. “But fortunately our defense is good enough to win a game for us when we have a poor shooting performance like we did tonight.”
Eldred Coach Frank Kean noted that his team was overwhelmed in the first half.
“But we started to play with them in the second half,” he said. “It started to become a ball game and we outscored them 13 to 11 in the second half.”
Kean was also pleased by the way his players kept hustling despite falling behind by such a large margin.
“We kept playing hard throughout the game,” he said. “I’ll never be upset with my players when they keep working hard like they did tonight.”
|
