Princeton overcomes Hall in overtime in Holiday Tournament finals

PRINCETON – Rivals Princeton and Hall played a classic finals game in the Princeton Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament on Saturday night at Prouty Gym.

The Red Devils rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to force overtime with two last-second free throws only to have the Tigresses prevailing 60-53.

Fans couldn’t have asked for much more. The only thing the game didn’t provide was a champion.

Princeton’s win created a three-way tie in the Gold Pool with the Tigresses, Red Devils and Midland, who all finished 1-1.

Midland, which beat Princeton 50-47 on Thursday but lost to Hall 48-40 on Friday, claimed the tiebreaker by virtue of its 74% free-throw shooting. Princeton claimed second and Hall third.

“What a great atmosphere and just a great position to be in. On the last night of this tournament to have us and Hall playing each other, and then it goes to overtime,” Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “The tale of two halves to even be in that position. There’s just no better feeling than two good teams and all the battles over the years. Just a classic.”

The Tigresses (3-1) held the Red Devils scoreless 7-0 in the overtime session with early baskets by Keighley Davis and Olivia Mattingly and free throws Avaya Koning (2-4) and Makayla Hecht (1-2).

“We knew we had to put the pressure down (in overtime) and play good defense and be smart on offense,” Davis said.

Moving forward, Davis said, “We need to come out even better and stronger.”

Davis finished with 18 points, Mattingly had 15, and freshman Payton Brandt added 13.

Princeton started the second quarter on a 13-0 run, including two baskets in the post by Brandt and a 3-pointer by Paige Jesse, on the way to a 35-19 halftime lead.

Junior hot shot guard Charlie Pellegrini wouldn’t let Hall lose, leading the Lady Devils on a furious second-half comeback, scoring 18 of her game-high 21 points, making five 3s on the night.

Her 3-pointer and layup capped a 13-0 third-quarter run to help draw the Red Devils within 41-34 at quarter’s end. Pellegrini knocked down three treys in the fourth quarter, the last hoop tying the game at 51 with 1:10 left in regulation.

Davis and Mattingly each made 1-of-2 free throws in the final minute to put the Tigresses ahead 53-51.

Hall sophomore Caroline Morris was fouled with two seconds left and calmly swished a pair from the charity stripe to send the game into OT.

“I told the girls I’m proud of the way they played,” Hall coach TJ Orlandi said. “Down 16 at half after playing a terrible first half compared to how we played the first three nights here. We just didn’t look ready to play, a step slow. Maybe playing back-to-back nights, long week, I don’t know.

“It was like in the second half we found another gear, had a little pride, I think. Put on press, had some success with that. The girls were active. Obviously, we wanted to win, but I think we can take a lot from this game and this week moving forward.”

Pellegrini was backed by Morris with 10 points and Natalia Zamora and Ava Delphi with eight each.

While disappointed to lose out by the tiebreaker, both Gonigam and Davis praised Midland for its performance.

“Hats off to Midland, because it wasn’t even close. Hall and Princeton were both in the 50s, and they were over 70%,” Gonigam said, referring to the team’s free-throw percentages. “Great job by them. They had a fantastic tournament. They’ve have a nice young team. It was fun these last couple days watching those top teams go at.”

“Midland played a good game. They had a good tournament. Well-deserved,” Davis said.

A fire alarm halted play in the first minute of the game. After Pellegrini hit a “logo 3″ to draw the Red Devils within 18-16 at the end of the first quarter, it was Princeton, who caught fire, starting the second quarter on a 13-0 run.

Brandt scored three hoops, Davis had two and Paige Jesse hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to send the Tigresses to a 35-19 halftime lead.

• Tournament notes: Hall’s Pellegrini and Ella Sterling and Princeton’s Davis and Camryn Driscoll were named to the all-tournament team. Neither Sterling nor Driscoll played Saturday, out with injuries. The prognosis is good for both. Also named to the all-tournament were Kaitlyn Anderson of Henry, Maggie Spratt of Putnam County, Riana Foster of IVC and Emma Franks, Jordyn Pyles and Anna McGlasson of Midland.