Lady Rockets, Lady Raiders post wins Saturday
Holly Tonini
West Greene’s Brittany Bonnema (13) fights to keep the ball away from Waynesburg Central’s Elle Hampson during Saturday’s Tip-Off Tournament game at Waynesburg Central High School.
Waynesburg Central's Kirsten Garber (23) dribbles around West Greene's Emily Tedrow (32) during Saturday's Tip-Off Tournament game at Waynesburg Central High School.
Waynesburg Central's Celine Monica (21) looks for room to pass around West Greene's Brittany Bonnema during Saturday's Tip-Off Tournament game at Waynesburg Central High School.
West Greene's Randalyn Filby (10) works the ball around Waynesburg Central's Kirsten Garber during Saturday's Tip-Off Tournament game at Waynesburg Central High School.
WAYNESBURG – Jefferson-Morgan girls’ basketball team improves to 2-0 on the season with a 41-33 win over Clay-Battelle, while Waynesburg Central evened its record with a 45-27 victory over West Greene Saturday night in the second day of the Lady Raiders Tip-off Tournament.
The Lady Rockets (2-0) tallied the opening 15 points of the contest and had five players scored in the opening eight minutes to build an 18-4 advantage at the end of one.
“We shot the ball better in the first quarter than usual, but I loved how we shared the ball,” J-M coach Chris Niemiec said. “We had a lot of people score for us and that keeps the defense off-balance. We were not forcing passes and we swung the ball better in the half-court.”
Despite only scoring six points in the second quarter, J-M carried a 24-14 edge into intermission.
After holding a 10-2 scoring edge in the third period, the Lady Rockets were able to hold off a late 17-7 rally by the Lady Cee-Bees (1-1) in the fourth frame for the win.
Nicole Venick was the lone J-M player in double-figures with 10 points, followed by eight points by Ally Bogden. Erin Confortini and Morgan Simkovic added seven points apiece, while Kayla Yorko scored six points.
“We were strong inside and controlled the paint on defense,” Niemiec said. “We made them a jump shooting team and didn’t allow any easy baskets. I liked how we crashed the boards and our interior defense. We packed it inside, and it worked for us tonight.”
Clay-Battelle was led by 12 points from Hayley Jones.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Lady Raiders (1-1) picked up their first win of the season after suffering a loss to J-M in the season-opener on Friday.
“In these season-opening tournaments there’s a quick turnover and you get to see what your team is made of,” Waynesburg coach John Garber said. “We spent a lot of energy and effort Friday night, but we responded well tonight. We played a full four quarters.”
After scoring only eight points in a loss on Friday, West Greene’s offense found its stride and held an early 7-4 edge in the opening quarter.
“This is an adjustment period for us,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “We have five new starters for us this year and they are learning their position and how the offense runs. Tonight we didn’t rush things. Things didn’t snow ball for us and we kept our composure tonight. I liked our effort.”
Waynesburg responded with a 15-3 rally to end the first quarter and held a 19-10 edge at the end of one.
Celine Monica had eight of her game-high 17 points in the first eight minutes, while Kirsten Garber compiled nine of her 16 points in the first period.
“Celine and Kirsten are our captains and probably our best shooters,” Garber said. “We need them in double-figures almost every night and they were both solid tonight. They will both be key for us this season. As a team, we hustled the whole night and battled for those loose balls.”
After the Lady Pioneers (0-2) trimmed the deficit to 25-15 with 2:33 left in the second stanza, the home team pushed its lead to 30-16 at halftime after a putback hoop by Shea Echegary and a trey by Garber.
Waynesburg was able to hold onto its lead in the second half with a 15-11 scoring advantage.
Marissa Rode scored a team-high 14 points for West Greene, while Rachel Carrico chipped in with seven points.