Slow start, fabulous finish
BUFFALO TWP — Even basketball teams as talented as Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's girls have to hit the reset button from time to time.
The Trojanettes displayed lackluster play in the first half of Thursday's showdown between the top two teams in Section 1-AAAA at Freeport Middle School.
Sixteen turnovers marred CWNC's effort, which resulted in an 18-9 lead at halftime.
“Freeport was playing a sagging man-to-man (defense), not putting any pressure on the ball at all,” said Trojanette coach Molly Rottmann. “We just did not play well against it. We came into this game lackadaisical and that's on me.”
CWNC's players responded with a 23-point third quarter before capping a 54-24 victory.
Senior forward Sam Breen led CWNC's charge, scoring 12 of her game-high 19 points in the third period, after which the visitors held a 41-21 advantage.
The Trojanettes improved to 15-2 overall and 9-0 in section play.
“We needed this win to help us lock down the section,” Rottmann said. “We settled down in the second half.”
The Trojanettes' 34-17 edge in rebounds was something the Yellowjackets could not overcome.
“They just have too much height,” said Freeport coach Fred Soilis.
While CWNC was dealing with its own problems in the first two quarters, Freeport (11-6, 7-2) was ice-cold from the floor, sinking just one of its 15 attempts in the first half.
“In the first game (a 64-42 CWNC win Jan. 2), we struggled against their press and trailed 20-4 after the first quarter,” said Soilis. “Our main focus was to break the press tonight. We spent about an hour on it the other day in practice and it didn't give us any trouble.
“We just missed too many shots,” he added. “It could very easily have been a tie game at halftime.”
Freeport junior forward Jenna Manke missed the first meeting with the Trojanettes with an illness. She led the Yellowjackets with 10 points and seven rebounds Thursday.
Kylie Huffman added 16 points for the Trojanettes.
“We talk about goals before every game,” said Soilis. “We figured if we could hold Breen to 20 points and 55 for them as a team, we'd have a chance to win..
“We figured we had nothing to lose. If we win, we'd be tied for the section lead. If we lose, we're still in second place.”Freeport's loss snapped a six-game winning streak.“We've lost two games so far in 2017,” Soilis said. “The first was to (CWNC) the first time, then we won six straight games. I'm confident we can go on another winning streak to close the regular season.”CW NORTH CATHOLIC 54Cassie Foster 1 0-0 2, Kylie Huffman 7 0-0 16, Tess Myers 4 2-3 10, Dani Short 3 1-2 7, Sam Breen 6 5-6 19, Amanda Bucklew 0 0-0 0, Ashley Robbins 0 0-0 0, Emma Pospisil 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 8-11 54.FREEPORT 24Asti Brestensky 0 1-2 1, Samantha Clark 1 0-0 3, Maddie Clark 0 2-2 2, Jenna Manke 3 4-6 10, Sidney Shemanski 2 2-2 6, Tori Radvan 1 0-0 2, Kim Mixon 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 9-12 24.CWNC 8 10 23 13 — 54Freeport4 5 12 3 — 243-point goals: CWNC 4 (Huffman 2, Breen 2); Freeport 1 (S. Clark).Monday: Valley at CW North Catholic; Freeport at Knoch
