Princeton avalanches Henry-Senachwine in tournament opener

PRINCETON – Rachel Eckert hit a 3-pointer for Henry-Senachwine to open the game.

Then came a blue and white Princeton avalanche with the host Tigresses scoring 17 straight points in the first quarter and going on another run of 16-0 to open the second quarter for a 34-4 lead.

The Tigresses won going away 54-18 to open the 2024 Princeton Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament.

“We played really well. Good first game,” Princeton junior forward Keighley Davis said.

“I thought the girls came out and played really well,” Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “First game can always be a little tough. You’ve been practicing against yourself for two weeks, and so on until you get yourself out there against somebody else, you never really know. Sometimes there’s some nerves flowing. I thought the girls came out and executed pretty well.”

Also Monday, Hall beat Stark County 52-23, and Mendota topped tournament newcomer Lowpoint-Washburn 52-13.

Davis led Princeton with 23 points, and her partner in crime, Camryn Driscoll, added 13 points to combine for 36 on the night. That’s nothing new as they’ve been playing together since the sixth grade.

“I love playing with Camryn. She’s a good player. Lot of chemistry there,” Davis said.

Along with senior guard Paige Jesse, who chipped in six points on a pair of 3-pointers, the Tigresses started building chemistry with two freshmen they introduced Tuesday, Avaya Koning (7) and Payton Brandt (2), who combined for nine points.

“The freshmen worked in really well. They went well with the team. The chemistry was good,” Davis said.

“We tried to sub frequently in the first quarter and get everybody in and get the nerves out and see how we were flowing together and try to build that chemistry,” Gonigam said. “It didn’t take much. They are really playing well together. Got a very good mix with some newcomers that can really play and add to our game and our depth and I thought our upperclassmen did very well tonight, too.”

Eckert and Kaitlyn Anderson each scored eight points for the Mallards.

While it was a slow start, Henry coach Clinton Schlosser looks for his Mallards to get things going.

“We knew Princeton was good. They lost what, one senior last year and won 20 games, so expected kind of what happened tonight,” he said. “We just got to break some bad habits the kids have and create new ones. That takes time. Unfortunately, we only had about six practices because our volleyball team went to sectional.

“But I feel like the effort is there and the kids buy in in practice. They bring energy. They kind have that winning mentality coming off softball regionals last year and then going to sectionals in volleyball. So hopefully they can transfer that over to basketball.”

Hall 52, Stark County 23: Senior center Ella Sterling scored 17 points and forward Kennedy Wozniak added nine points to lead the Red Devils to victory in the opener.

Hall opened a 10-3 lead after the first quarter and built a 26-9 halftime lead.

Mendota 52, Lowpoint-Washburn 13: The Trojans outscored the Wildcats 24-4 in the second quarter on the way to a 35-9 halftime lead.

Laylie Denault led Mendota with 13 points with Ava Eddy adding nine and Ella Coss and Cassie Gonzalez eight each.

The tournament resumes Tuesday with the Tigresses meeting Putnam County in the nightcap at 8 p.m. In other games, Mendota plays Midland at 5 p.m. followed by IVC and Hall at 6:30 p.m.

Gonigam expects a good battle from Putnam County.

“They’re well coached and always seem like they reload. So it will be a good test for us,” she said.

Henry will return to action at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Putnam County.

Note: Princeton opened the F/S portion of the tournament with a 32-11 win over host Mendota on Monday night. Danika Burden had six points, and Piper Hansen and Alice Scruggs added five each.