INDIANAPOLIS – A long day of basketball ended on a high note for Plymouth’s Lady Pilgrims taking a 50-46 win in the final game of the Brebeuf Shoot Out over the host team.
Recovering from a tough loss earlier in the day at the hands of 3A number one ranked Norwell, Plymouth fought off some early sluggishness to recover and grab the lead to stay late in the third quarter.
“They are a penetrating team and (Brebeuf guard Alia Martin) is an All American soccer player,” said Plymouth head coach Dave Duncan. “She is ,a great penetrator when she has the ball in her hands good things happen. We have to hand it to our kids they hung in their and made good things happen and hit free throws down the stretch.”
Halle Reichard – struggling with illness for most of the week – responded with some key shooting to and 19 points to help the Lady Pilgrim offense to the win. Some tough play inside by Lanae Singleton, Nicole Horvath and CeCe Robinson helped offset the strong inside presence of Brebeuf.
“I thought we matched their physicality,” said Duncan. “They just crash the boards. They send three or four kids to the boards and they are just constantly grinding. Our kids did a great job of rotating and keeping a body on them.”
The decision to turn up the pressure defensively in the full court made a big difference in a decisive stretch in the third quarter. Forcing turnovers allowed Plymouth to stretch their lead. The Lady Pilgrims held Brebeuf to just three points in the pivotal third quarter.
“When (Martin) went out of the game we just felt like it was an opportunity to turn up the pressure and make some kids make some decisions,” said Duncan. “There game was to get the ball inside and we just wanted to make them make some decisions on the perimeter.
“Our kids are young and we’re trying to figure out things on the fly and coaching on the fly and putting things in on the fly and you have to adjust according to the elements and I think we adjusted pretty well today,” said Duncan. “A lot of kids stepped up. I think we’re getting better all the time and that’s what you want to do. We’re still competing and to get to the next level you have to keep competing.”
Plymouth moves to 7-8 on the year and returns to NLC play again next Saturday at home against Elkhart Memorial.
Norwell 66, Plymouth 48
Alli Andrews was all that and more answering any questions about the status of her injured ankle with a huge offensive showing in game on of the Brebeuf Shoot Out.
Andrews shot well and drove to the basket with authority and put 19 points on the board in her return to the floor after an injury just before the Christmas break.
“I thought she had a great game and that’s something that we need her to keep doing,” said Plymouth head coach Dave Duncan. “We had a really good week of practice and everything that we worked on for them they did. They are really difficult the way they’ll spread you out and shoot so well.”
The Lady Knights did just as Plymouth was able to hold the lead for much of the first half but dialed up pressure and solid shooting from Norwell enabled them to grab the lead and continue to extend it in the second half.
“They play you end to end and really we worked on how to attack what they wanted to do,” said Duncan. “When you get tired sometimes that mental part of your game will leave you and you lose a little focus on the little things.”
Game One
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 15 28 39 48
Norwell 13 33 52 66
Plymouth (48) – Harrel 2 0-0 4, Peters 0 0-0 0, Cook 2 0-1 6, Quissel 1 0-0 2, Reichard 2 2-2 7, Nifong 0 0-0 0, Andrews 6 3-4 19, Morwood 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 1-2 5, Singleton 0 0-0 0, Horvath 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 7-10 48.
Norwell (66) – Sawyer 3 0-0 8, Dunnuck 0 2-2 2, Roller 4 1-2 12, Beer 1 0-0 3, Conrad 6 0-0 17, Shelton 4 2-2 13, Strunk 4 3-3 11, Dial 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 13-20 66.
3 Pt. FG – Norwell 9-26 (Shelton, Roller 3), Plymouth 7-17 (Andrews 4)
Rebounds – Norwell 20 (Strunk 3), Plymouth 23 (Singleton 7)
Assists – Norwell 10 (Strunk 5), Plymouth 14 (Andrews 5)
Steals – Norwell 15 (Conrad 5), Plymouth 6 (Andrews, Robinson 2)
Turnovers – Norwell 10, Plymouth 23
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Norwell 11, Plymouth 20
Game Two
Score by Quarters
Brebeuf 8 21 24 46
Plymouth 6 18 30 50
Plymouth (50) – Reichard 6 5-6 19, Nifong 1 0-0 2, Andrews 2 3-5 8, Morwood 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 8-8 12, Singleton 1 0-0 2, Horvath 3 1-2 7. Totals 15 17-23 50.
Brebeuf (46) – Kraft 2 0-0 6, Martin 4 3-5 11, McLaughlin 1 0-0 3, Saunders 3 4-5 10, Henniff 0 0-0 0, Carroll 5 1-2 12, Medcalfe 0 0-0 0, Husain 2 1-6 5. Totals 17 9-18 46.
3 Pt. FG – Brebeuf 3-13 (Kraft 2), Plymouth 3-10 (Reichard 2).
Rebounds – Brebeuf 25 (Saunders 7), Plymouth 20 (Andrews, Horvath 4).
Assists – Brebeuf 4 (Carroll 2), Plymouth 10 (Reichard, Andrews 3).
Steals – Brebeuf 7 (Martin 5), Plymouth 10 (Cook, Andrews, Horvath 2).
Turnovers – Brebeuf 19, Plymouth 17.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Brebeuf 20 (Martin), Plymouth 17.
