Sutton lays in buzzer beater
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Needing a basket for the Win with 9.4 seconds to go, the Princeton High School girls basketball team got the ball into the hands of Mary Sutton.
The junior guard delivered a layup at the buzzer as the Little Tigers avenged an earlier loss to Nottingham with a 34-33 win last Friday.
”It was really nice,” said Sutton, who finished with seven points. “It was just good to get a second win. We really worked together in that game and put all the pieces together.”
Sutton knew there would be some growing pains with the PHS team. The Little Tigers have a new coach and a new look this year and a lot less experience on the court.
”Last year, we had a lot more options,” Sutton said. “We graduated four seniors and also one of our players moved back to Finland. Last year, as a point guard, I had a lot more options to go to and we had a lot more depth on the bench.
”This year, we’re playing with two posts, Liz (Jacobs) and (Bryanna) Blue, instead of the traditional three-guard, two-forward set. Last year, we were able to get more turnovers in the open court so we could get more transition baskets. Last year, we played a lot of zone, our 2-3 Syracuse defense. This year, our zone play is ‘Syracuse,’ but we also play a lot of man.”
PHS has been growing throughout the year as they gain more experience together under new coach Dan Van Hise. They were pleased to see their development earn them a pair of wins. The Little Tigers’ win over Nottingham was its second in three games after not winning any of its first eight games.
”What Coach said was that we got ourselves in situations to win games, but as a group we didn’t know how to win games,” Sutton said. “As we’ve gotten more experience, we’ve learned how to win. It might only be two games that we’ve won, but it’s helped boost our confidence and if we’re in a certain situation in a game, hopefully we can come out on top.”
PHS will open the Mercer County Tournament at Notre Dame on Tuesday. They were scheduled to take on Hightstown, the first team that they beat this year, on Wednesday.
”I think we’re going in with a little more confidence,” Sutton said prior to the game. “Like Coach said, we loosened up and learned how to play with each other, learned how to win.”
Julia Ryan had 13 points in the win over Nottingham. Sutton had 15 points the next day as the Little Tigers fell to Lawrence, 43-35. PHS has had different players deliver big games and they are adjusting to the level they have to play at to earn wins.
”Three or four of the girls were on JV last year, so it shows that they’ve improved a lot,” Sutton said. “We need to keep on improving in the offseason. Since the beginning of the season, Coach says we’ve gotten more confident and loosened up a bit and settled into what our roles are on the team.”
Sutton, who also runs cross country and track and field for PHS, is confident in her role on the court. She has been starting at point guard since she was a freshman. Her game has evolved into more of an all-around game — the sort that allowed her to finish the game-winner inside just as comfortably as she has made jump shots.
”I’ve known what I have to do — distribute the ball and help the team score,” Sutton said. “Now I have a lot more confidence in myself and my dribbling ability. As a freshman, I would have settled for the jump shot. Now I look to drive. I can make it, or if I get fouled, go to the foul line and make my shots.”
All around her the options are improving and finding what they can do at the varsity level. There are big changes since the start of the season in how they are playing.
”In the beginning, we didn’t talk that much,” Sutton said. “We were slow getting back on defense. No one knew who we had sometimes. There was a lack of communication, and lack of talking. We weren’t working as a team.
”We started working together as a team more, passing around more, not just shooting the ball from the outside,” she said. “We started kicking it in and getting it back out and moving the ball more.”
The Little Tigers are still working to develop the consistency to win night in and night out. They lost, 40-27, to Hamilton on Tuesday.
”From a guard’s point of view, our shots weren’t falling,” Sutton said. “That was something negative. We didn’t adjust to that well. We should have shaken that off and driven to the basket more, but we didn’t get the calls we wanted. We tried to look in the post more, but same thing there, our shots weren’t falling. It was frustrating. We’d go on a little run to come back, but then (Natalya Rivera) would come back and score for them.”
The Little Tigers were looking to get back to their winning ways against Hightstown.
”A win would certainly be nice to give to our seniors and end on a positive note for the season,” Sutton said. “How we end the season, we want to pick it up the same way when we start next year. We want it to be a continuation, no break.”
The Little Tigers graduate just two seniors this year. With more pieces back, it gives them a better starting point for next year, and Sutton is looking forward to her senior season when PHS returns more of its team than it did this year.
”It was harder to bounce back from,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll have more momentum going into next year than we did going into this year.”