The Plymouth Lady Pilgrims came out with a special focus Saturday night in New Prairie. The girls seemed to understand what was at stake. A Sectional title. But they needed to get through a tough Mishawaka Marian team who the night before beat CGA. When the horn sounded, Plymouth collected their 12th Sectional title with a 38-21 win over the Lady Knights.
“I wasn’t sure how we would come out after that tough game with St. Joseph last night. They (St. Joe) were really physical with us. But as soon as we stepped on the bus, there was a special look about them. Then I started feeling better about this game. At least as far as being mentally ready.”, said PHS Head Coach Dave Duncan.
Focused they were, as Plymouth jumped out to a 10-3 first quarter lead, by halftime…Plymouth had a 18-7 advantage.
“We played well enough defensively. Offensively I thought we struggled a bit, mostly in the second quarter. I felt the pressure by Allie Wright was really taking them out of what they do best, dribble penetrate in their half-court game.”, added Duncan.
The second half was much like the first, defensive pressure in the final two quarters, combined with some consistent shooting led to the win. That consistent shooting also came in the form of Free Throw shooting where Plymouth finished 78% (15/19). The defense was helped by the aggressive rebounding where Plymouth finished with a 18-8 advantage.
“Allie Wright was all over tonight wasn’t she? She just wants to create all kinds of havoc. I thought Senior Andrea Shoot gave us very good minutes tonight. She got 5 points and 6 rebounds.”, Duncan said. “This is one of those games where you need EVERYONE to contribute to the win. We got that contribution from everybody tonight. I love that we won a Sectional title with this group, but I love it more that we did it as a team! This has been a great group to coach. But I want to add, when I came in, the foundation was already laid by Dave Cox. So, I feel he deserves a little credit with this success as well.”
After the game, the three Seniors talked about winning the Sectional:
Lauren Tanner: “This feels good. All the hard work we’ve put in……it just feels awesome. We knew tonight’s game would be tough, but we really wanted this and I think it showed. This group of girls have been so much fun to be with. There’s NO drama! There’s no selfishness. I think we can go far with this group.”
Amber Redinger: “I love this group. We get along so well together. I’m just having a lot of fun with these girls and I hope we can keep it up. If we continue to play like the last two nights, I think we can go a long way.”
Andrea Shook: “This has been a great group to play with. There no drama amongst us. We really enjoy being with each other. It’s been great to play with some real good underclassmen who want us to help lead them. We all really like playing basketball with each other. We know our roles and play them to the best of our ability.”
Plymouth faces Griffth (15-8) at the Rensselaer Regional. Times and ticket information will be announced Monday afternoon.
