Jan 18, 2008 By Bobby Fox 4 min read

MAPLETOWN – The last time the Mapletown and Carmichaels girls teams got together, the outcome wasn’t pretty for the Lady Maples. After 32 minutes of play, the Mapletown limped out of Carmichaels after being blown out 46-24. At halftime of last night’s rematch, it looked like another lopsided affair could occur with the Lady Mikes holding a 25-15 lead at half time. However, unlike their first encounter, Mapletown bounced back in the second half and made a game out of it.

Unfortunately for the home team, the Lady Maples couldn’t finish the comeback and fell to their opponents by the final of 53-47. The win improved Carmichaels’ overall mark to 9-9 and kept them nipping at the heels of Geibel Catholic in Section 2-A as they improved to 5-1 in section play.

“A Carmichaels/Mapletown game is always intense,” said Carmichaels head coach Jim Lane. “The girls all know each other and there is a competitive familiarity between all of them.”

Thanks in large part to some erratic shooting by their opponents, Carmichaels was able to jump out to a 13-7 lead after one period of play.

That lead was stretched to 10 at halftime after a 12-8 advantage for the Lady Mikes in the second.

As a team, Mapletown (10-5, 3-3) shot around 20 percent from the floor in the first half. The Lady Mikes, on the other hand, got solid efforts from Jordan Duke and Shayleigh Busti, who put up five and eight points before the halftime break.

Thinks didn’t start well for the Lady Maples in the third quarter as star forward Erika Chory had to sit for a large part of the period with four fouls. However, led by guard Kaitlyn Novak’s eight points, Mapletown was able to trim into the Lady Mikes’ lead, pulling to 37-28 before the start of the fourth quarter.

In the final period, both teams’ offenses heated up in a big way.

The Maples were able to pull the game to within five at 49-44 with around two minutes to go in the game. Unfortunately, in the middle of their comeback, Mapletown guard Kaitlyn Novak fouled out of the game with 21 points.

Carmichaels got back to within seven at 51-44, but a Heather Shook three-pointer trimmed the advantage back down to five at 52-47 with less than a minute to go. Unfortunately for the home team, they could get any closer as Duke knocked down a late free throw to put her team up 53-47 in front of a raucous crowd.

Duke was simply outstanding on the night as she poured in a game-high 29 points on the night. Lane attributes Duke’s potency in the field to a work ethic that is present all year.

“She works hard 365 days a year,” Lane said. “It’s because of that dedication that she’s able to do what she does. But, it’s really a credit to all my girls out there.”

He was also praising of sophomore forward Molly Stuvek’s work on defense.

“Number one, I want to give credit to Molly Stuvek for her defense on Chory,” Lane said.” She rose to the occasion and handled it well.”

Shayleigh Busti also had a double-digit scoring night for Carmichaels with 11.

Novak’s 21 led Mapletown and Shook posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Chory pitched in nine points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

After the loss, a visibly dejected and exhausted Linda Shultz had little to say about how the night went for her team.

“The girls came back at the end, but it took too long to get started,” Shultz said. “We’re just not shooting well and we need to show more intensity.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Lady Maples as they must take the weekend to prepare for a road game at section-leading Geibel Catholic on Monday. Carmichaels will also return to action on Monday when they host a much improved California team.