Caroline Morris’ last-second 3 lifts Hall past Princeton

SPRING VALLEY – Caroline Morris caught the ball in the right corner, dribbled a couple of times, took a quick glance at the clock and shot.

She hit nothing but net with less than two seconds remaining to lift the Hall Red Devils to a 59-57 win over rival Princeton in an exciting Three Rivers East game Monday night at Hall High School.

“I haven’t really been shooting the best this year, so I knew had to step up at some point and was kind of the best time for it to happen,” Morris said. “It feels so good, and I’m really grateful for my teammates. They’re great leaders. As a sophomore, they’re just great to look up to.

“Charlie [Pellegrini] and Kennedy [Wozniak] handled the ball so good tonight against Princeton’s tough press. I’m just so proud tonight of my whole team. They just played so hard. This is one of the best feelings to win. We all came in knowing this was a big game and an important one for us.”

With the win, the Red Devils (11-4 overall) moved into a first-place tie atop the TRAC East with the Tigresses (9-6), both at 3-1.

“Super happy for the kids, because Princeton’s had our number for a while. They’re excited, and they should be,” Hall coach TJ Orlandi said.

After playing to a 38-all tie after three quarters, the Red Devils used a 9-0 run with baskets by Ella Sterling on the front and back end to go up 49-43.

Hall still led by six with less than a minute to play on an inbounds basket by Natalia Zamora and a free throw by Pellegrini to go up 56-50.

Freshman Payton Brandt scored on two putbacks for Princeton, and junior guard Camryn Driscoll went coast to coast, fouled on a layup by Sterling, and sank both free throws to put the Tigresses on top 57-56 with 15.7 seconds to play.

About 14 seconds later, Morris connected for her game-winner. Driscoll took a running shot at the buzzer but missed.

“She stepped up and knocked it down,” Orlandi said. “Even going to the last time we played them, she hit those two free throws to force overtime. She’s got ice water in her veins when it comes to hitting clutch shots.

“We were up six there with a minute to go, and I think we just got to take care of the ball and hit free throws. Didn’t work that way. We gave up some offensive rebounds, putbacks and you could just see everything going their way at the end.”

Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said it was a disappointing way to lose.

“We thought we were doing pretty well down the stretch, but credit to Hall for knocking that one down at the end. It was a tough one, and [Morris] really came through for them,” she said.

“That’s one of the more disappointing things, just that the girls had executed really well in the final minute just to get themselves in position to be able to compete for the win.”

Sterling led Hall with 14 points, with Morris and Zamora adding 12 each, Pellegrini eight and Kennedy Wozniak seven.

Princeton’s Davis led all scorers with 22 points, while Driscoll added 15 and Mattingly 11.

Mattingly gave Princeton a quick 5-0 lead with a 3-pointer and a 2.

The Red Devils went on a 13-0 run to close out the quarter on two baskets each by Sterling and Zamora, 3s by Pellegrini and Ava Delphi and a hoop by Wozniak.

Princeton had its own streak of 11 straight late in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead. Davis, who scored 13 points in the second quarter, cashed in three steals, and Driscoll scored once off a steal. Driscoll ended the 11-0 run by hitting a rainbow 3-pointer to put the Tigresses on top 29-22 with 1:25 left in the first half.

Hall scored the last five points of the half to close the gap to 29-27 at halftime.

Davis kept the hot hand in the third quarter for Princeton, scoring on two layups to give the Tigresses a 35-31 lead early and adding a 3-pointer late to put them up 38-37. A hoop on an inbounds pass by Morris and her two free throws helped keep the Red Devils close.