Pirates take early lead to reach hoops cutoff
By: Justin Feil
Jenna Shaughnessy has grown accustomed to playing under pressure. Good thing.
For the second time in four months, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South senior has faced the prospects of not making the state tournament, and helped a Pirates team come through in the clutch.
Friday, with a 6-6 record before tip-off, a loss to Hightstown would have meant that the Pirate girls’ basketball team would have missed the state tournament as their record would have dipped under .500 by Saturday’s cutoff date. It might have seemed like it would be an easy win, but though the Rams came in with just two wins, the visitors had played better as of late.
Shaughnessy, who helped the Pirate girls’ soccer team make the state tournament this fall, made clear that WW-P South also had plans of playing in March’s state basketball tournament. Her three-pointer to open the scoring gave South a 3-0 lead, and though there were a few tense moments in the fourth quarter, the Pirates never trailed in a 42-36 win.
"We do well under pressure, I think," Shaughnessy said. "I guess we got used to it. When we are under that type of pressure, when we have that big game, we usually do what needs to be done on the court or on the soccer field."
The WW-PS girls’ basketball team can hope that its postseason turns as successful as the soccer team’s did after they narrowly qualified. The Pirates advanced three rounds on the pitch before their season ended. Shaughnessy, fellow guard Kristina Shemming and forward Lindsey Williams all share that experience as members of that soccer team. But they didn’t really want to share that cutoff pressure again.
"It is a big sense of relief," Shaughnessy said. "We knew Hightstown would be a good game. We knew we had to play well. Now we have a big week next week with Steinert and Hamilton."
The Pirates play at Nottingham tonight, and they’re looking to build off a game that had plenty of pressure.
"Hightstown has to get so much credit," said WW-PS head coach Beth Fitzpatrick. "Look how they played lately. They had a one-point game against Allentown, and they’re really improved. And they had a two-point game (Thursday) night with North.
"I knew it was going to be tough. They’re tough girls. They want to knock us out of states."
It was obvious from the outset that the Pirates had no intention of letting that happen. Shaughnessy’s three-pointer set the tone in an 18-9 first quarter outburst by South.
"I said, ‘Let’s go out and take it to them. Who’s going to make the first shot?’and Jenna said, ‘Me,’" recalled Fitzpatrick. "That first quarter was definitely the best quarter we’ve played. It started us off right.
"The nice thing was how well we did against their zone," she added. "In the past, when people have gone zone, we’ve had a tendency to get tight and press a bit. We held it for a minute at one point, we played smart and moved the ball. You can see how hard they’ve worked."
The Pirates go a bit of a scare in the fourth quarter as four Hightstown three-pointers enabled the Rams to trim the lead to 34-30 with still more than six minutes to play. But it was the play of Dana Lachenmayer inside and the Pirate guards outside that enabled them to control the game and pick up the win.
"You can see how our guards are coming along," Fitzpatrick said. "Their shots, even if they don’t, look like they’re going in. They’ve gotten so much better."
Shaughnessy and fellow backcourt mate and senior Keri Denaro are keying the improvement. As they become bigger offensive threats, the Pirates’ chances improve.
"We worked the ball better," Fitzpatrick said. "We’re starting to shoot the ball with confidence. We have girls who can shoot well. They only take three or four shots in a game and make two or three. Now we want them to shoot more.
"Jenna could have had 12 points tonight, but she just took good shots. They all shoot a high percentage and they’re starting to take more shots."
The one Shaughnessy made for her only three points of the night was a big one if only because it gave WW-PS the lead, which it never relinquished. On a night when its state tournament berth was on the line, the lead enabled South to ease some of the pressure.
"It didn’t make us panic," Shaughnessy noted. "Usually when we get behind, we panic. We were able to pass it around and take good shots so they wouldn’t have a chance to run against us.
"That’s probably the best we played against a zone," she added. "We played well against it. We didn’t panic and got good shots."
The Pirate defense was good as usual, but the improved offense was the key. It’s been a point of emphasis in recent weeks and will be an even factor in South’s state chance.
"We’ve been working so hard on offense," Fitzpatrick said. "Defensively, we’re pretty good. We play pretty well, but when we give up 44 points or 40 points in a game and lose, we know we need to be more offensive. I’m hoping it’s starting to pay off."
It certainly looked it Friday. Even though South didn’t score many points, it scored on a high percentage of its possessions, and even when it didn’t score it had good chances. The trick now is maintaining that attack.
"We want to work on our consistency," Fitzpatrick said. "That was the best we’ve passed in a while. Some of our passes were incredible. The prettiest part of this game was our passing. We looked to get some easy points in transition which helps. If we can be more consistent with that, our season will go on longer."
At least for now, Jenna Shaughnessy and the WW-P South girls’ basketball team ensured it’ll at least last one more game beyond the regular season and Mercer County Tournament. A win one the eve of the state tournament cutoff with all the same pressure that they overcame in soccer season was all it took.