Tourney loss is another lesson

WW-P South girls never recover from early deficit

By: Justin Feil
   With each successive game, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South girls’ basketball team finds out something new about itself.
   In a win over Princeton High it discovered that it can be a pretty good defensive team by pitching a first-quarter shutout. In a loss to Notre Dame, the Pirates learned the value of free throw shooting as 14 missed foul shots cost them in the two-point defeat. In topping Monroe in the opening game of the South Brunswick Viking Classic, they found plenty of character in pulling out a last-minute two-point win.
   That character was reinforced in the Viking Classic championship against Hillsborough on Monday, but the Pirates discovered they don’t have enough character, foul shooting or defense to overcome a really slow start. WW-PS fell behind, 17-2, five minutes into the first quarter and never recovered in a 53-42 loss.
   "That’s why we lost the game, right there in that (first) quarter," said WW-PS head coach Beth Fitzpatrick, whose 2-2 team plays at Hightstown 7 p.m. tonight. "We didn’t take care of the ball. We were prepared (for Hillsborough’s half-court zone pressure). I had guys come in and run it against us. But when we stepped on the floor, we got nervous. We got in a huge deficit."
   The Pirates used their pressure defense that’s been there all season to claw back into the game. With 1:24 left in the second quarter, Lindsay Williams’ putback slashed that initial deficit in half to make it 30-23. But as happened so often Monday, Allison Kutch of Hillsborough had an answer with a three-pointer.
   Solid foul shooting — the Pirates went 16-for-21 from the free throw line — kept WW-PS within striking distance, but it couldn’t put together enough plays to draw even again. They missed a layup just two minutes into the third quarter that could have cut the deficit to six points, and never got closer than 35-28 on a layup by Natasha Edwards from Rashanna Edwards with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.
   The Edwards sisters led the Pirates in scoring Monday. Rashanna had 16 points and seven steals, while Natasha had 10 points.
   "We outscored them the last three quarters," Fitzpatrick said of the Pirates’ never-say-die attitude. "I’m proud of them for that. But we don’t score enough points to get down like that and come back."
   Fitzpatrick is hoping that lesson sinks in by tonight’s return to Colonial Valley Conference action against Hightstown.
   "They’re improved," Fitzpatrick said of the Rams. "They play something like a half-court trap and run a screen and pop out offense. We’re going to have to come out better. Whoever comes out and takes charge of the game will win."
   The Pirates were short-handed in the Viking Classic as they were without third-leading scorer Kelly Kasper, who could have provided some size and quickness to offset some of Hillsborough’s advantage. And with a shortened bench, WW-PS was limited in using its full-court press which was the best counter to Hillsborough’s potent half-court offense.
   "Hillsborough is a good team," Fitzpatrick said. "They ran their offense extremely well. We stayed man and tried to pressure them. They were patient. They ran through their offense for so long.
   "They’re all the same size," she added. "These guys would definitely give Notre Dame a tough time I think they’d beat them. They came out draining from the outside."
   That combination of patience and sharp-shooting made it even harder for the Pirates to come back and win their first Viking Classic since 2000. Fitzpatrick was still happy with what they got out of the games against Monroe and Hillsborough.
   "This is a good tournament," she said. "We had good competition here. It’s good to play against (teams outside the CVC) too. This is good for us. We saw zone, and we need to work more on our offense. This showed us some things we need to work on."
   Another game, another lesson for the WW-P South girls’ basketball team. In its first three games, it learned the value of defense, foul shooting and character. Monday, it learned that a slow start can outdo even those lessons.