PLYMOUTH – Two of the areas top teams matched up at Plymouth Tuesday night and after a dog fight of a first half the Lady Pilgrims were able to walk away with a 37-27 win over Winamac.
Plymouth trailed at halftime but a huge third quarter turned everything around as Plymouth went up by 11 with a 1:46 to play in the period and never looked back. Holding the Warriors under 30 points for the night was a big accomplishment for the Plymouth defense giving up 18 of those in the first half.
“We were really proud of our defense,” said Plymouth head coach Dave Duncan. “We kept the (Laini) Joseph girl down tonight, she’s very talented and we were able to slow her down a little bit.”
Joseph ended the night with nine points and eight rebounds but only two of those points came in the second half. Meanwhile Plymouth was able to run the clock, not being reckless on the offensive end.
“I think I was really proud of our team tonight for showing patience on offense,” said Duncan. “That’s something that we’ve worked on in practice and we were able to execute it tonight.”
It was a game again where the Plymouth bench was instrumental and even more so with several starters under the weather.
“I was a little worried going into the game tonight,” said Duncan. “Halle (Reichard) was a little sick last night, Claire (Tanner) was sick last night, I was really nervous about our energy coming into the game tonight.”
“I thought Pete (Kacee Peters), Mary Kate (Flynn) and Lindsay (Janus) gave us a lot of energy. They were the ones that really turned things around for us.”
Peters was her normal self on defense, a big reason Laini Joseph had a rough night, and the ball handling of Flynn and Janus allowed Duncan to rest his starters for much of the second half.
Cassidy Holiday continues to prove she saves the best for last with four points and four assists in the second half to key the 11 point cushion. All after collecting two fouls in the early minutes of the game.
“Cass (Cassidy Holiday) has played with two fouls before and we felt like we needed her on the floor,” said Duncan. “She was able to go that second quarter and not pick up another one.”
Janus could also prove an important part as the Lady Pilgrims head down the stretch.
“Lindsay handles the ball really well and she’s a hard nosed kid,” said Duncan. “Claire wasn’t feeling well and it was a great opportunity to get her some more minutes and I thought she played well tonight.”
Plymouth moves to 14-5 on the year and will take on Wawasee at home in an NLC game on Saturday night. Winamac moves to 13-5.
•PLYMOUTH 37, WINAMAC 27
at Plymouth
Plymouth 8 16 33 37
Winamac 6 18 22 27
Plymouth (37) – Tanner 2 2-2 8, Holiday 3 1-3 7, Peters 1 0-0 2, Reichard 3 0-0 8 Janus 1 0-0 2, Flynn 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 0-0 4, Clady 1 2-2 4, Weir 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 5-7 37
Winamac (27) – Johnson 3 0-0 7, Brumm 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 0-0 2, Keller 0 1-2 1, Sanders 1 0-3 2, Joseph 4 1-2 9, Jennings 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 2-7 27).
3 Pt. FG – Plymouth 4 (Tanner, Reichard 2), Winamac 1 (Johnson).
Rebounds – Plymouth 13 (Robinson 3), Winamac 19 (Joseph 9).
Assists – Plymouth 9 (Holiday 5), Winamac 5 (Sanders 3).
Steals – Plymouth 7 (Holiday, Robinson 2), Winamac 2 (Johnson, Smith).
Turnovers – Plymouth 9, Winamac 14.
Fouls (Fouled out) – Plymouth 13, Winamac 12.
