Hall, Princeton girls basketball teams win pools at Princeton Holiday Tournament

,PRINCETON – Two pool winners were determined Tuesday on the second night of the Princeton Holiday Tournament.

Hall defeated IVC 51-41 to win the Gray Pool, while the host Tigresses pulled away from Putnam County for a 52-21 victory to win the Blue Pool.

“It’s where we were hoping we’d be after the first two games,” Hall coach TJ Orlandi said. “We knew it would be tough. This is probably the toughest pool of the three because we knew IVC was going to be really good. So we’re just really happy to be 2-0. We’re going to play two good teams in Midland and Princeton. You never know what’s going to happen, but we’re happy to give ourselves a shot.”

Midland beat Mendota 65-38 in the first game Tuesday and leads the White Pool.

Midland 65, Mendota 38: Despite the final score, Mendota coach John Hansen was pleased with his team’s effort.

The Trojans hung with the Timberwolves in the first quarter, trailing 14-8 after the first eight minutes. Midland led 28-14 at halftime before pulling away in the second half, eventually invoking the running clock with a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“We said going into this game that we were going to have an identity of going hard and having high energy on offense and defense, and I thought that’s exactly how we played,” Hansen said. “I thought we were 12 missed layups and some offensive rebounds by them of that being a way better game, so I’m extremely happy with the effort in that regard. I’d like us to finish more.

“Hopefully, this is second-game-of-the-year rust and we’re going to start finishing a little better.”

Ava Eddy led Mendota, which finishes 1-1 in the White Pool, with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter.

“She got the game ball tonight,” Hansen said. “The 17 points were great, but to me, it was the fact that she struggled to make layups and she did not let it affect her. She led us with eight steals, she was crashing the boards and continued to try to facilitate the offense. I thought the points in the fourth after her struggles were a testament to how dedicated she is and how strong of a leader she is for our team.”

Hall 51, IVC 41: Orlandi said the Red Devils are better conditioned and have a deeper roster this season, which will help late in games.

It showed against IVC as the Red Devils led from the end of the first quarter on but never pulled away until a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Kennedy Wozniak kicked off the run, Ella Sterling scored three straight buckets down low, and Charlie Pellegrini capped it off with a fast-break layup for a 48-35 lead with 3:01 left.

“I thought we had more energy than we’ve had before early in seasons,” Orlandi said. “In that moment, I thought we were getting out and running. We were getting rebounds and getting steals, and we had girls running the floor. I thought we were pushing the tempo and controlling it and putting them on their heels a little bit and finishing at the rim. It was fun to watch.”

The Red Devils scored 10 points in transition with Pellegrini scoring eight of her 12 points on fast breaks. To go along with the transition game, Hall had a strong presence in the paint with Sterling.

The senior post scored a game-high 22 points.

“Ella is so good down low,” Orlandi said. “We’re going to see double teams and stuff like that on her, so we’re trying to emphasize being patient with it. Maybe that initial pass where the double is, you don’t want to force it, but a lot of times on the ball swing or the weak side, as the defense rotates, we can hit her and she’s so good at sealing and getting in the right position. We’re trying to get her as many touches as we can. She’s such a good passer too that she creates a lot of shots for people as well.”

Orlandi was pleased with Hall’s defensive effort as the Red Devils limited IVC to one shot or forced a turnover on 30 of 34 second half possessions.

“I thought we won that game on the defensive end,” Orlandi said. “I thought we really locked in late in the third and into the fourth. We played good defense all game, but when we needed to, we really locked down and contested shots and held them to one shot. That was a big thing.”

Princeton 52, Putnam County 21: Both teams had a slow start offensively as only one point was scored between them in the first 3:33.

But the Tigresses’ defense was forcing turnovers and creating offensive opportunities Princeton started to finish as it pulled away for a 30-10 halftime lead after holding a 12-5 advantage after the first eight minutes.

“We made some defensive adjustments and switches just to keep ourselves and the other team on their toes a little bit,” Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “It was slow at times, but I felt like once we could play in the full court a little more, we were able to play a lot faster and that seems to be more our game, at least right now.”

The Tigresses forced 41 turnovers.

“I think we’re just reading passes,” Gonigam said. “We knew we wanted to get our first trap set in our defense, and from there we trusted the girls to make some reads and pressure their guards.”

After falling behind 8-0, the Panthers pulled within 9-5 with 28.6 seconds left in the first quarter before Keighley Davis drained a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left.

“They’re super athletic and get up and down the floor well and have two really good shooters in Davis and [Camryn] Driscoll,” Putnam County coach Jared Sale said. “Near the end of the first quarter, it was 9-5 then we lost Davis on the wing and she pushed it to 12-5. If you get a stop there, you’re feeling pretty good after one. I thought there were a couple spots in the game where if we get a stop and we’re able to go down and get a bucket, you might be in a different situation.”

Princeton pushed its lead to double digits for the first time at 20-8 on a 3 by freshman Avaya Koning.

The Tigresses hit the offensive glass hard and were able to get multiple shots on 11 first-half possessions and 17 possessions in the game.

“We’ve really been trying to encourage the girls to box out and rebound,” Gonigam said. “Putnam County had some height on us. They have some good post players. I was really proud of the effort rebounding and just flying in from all over the place.”

Princeton extended its lead to 44-16 after three quarters. Davis and Driscoll each scored 16 points to lead the Tigresses.

Maggie Spratt led PC with eight points, while Eme Bouxsein added six.

“We’re going to continue to work and hopefully trend in the right direction,” Sale said.