Princeton Holiday Tournament: Putnam County, PHS, Bureau Valley win openers

Two area girls basketball coaches earned their first wins Monday on opening day of the Princeton Holiday Tournament.

Bureau Valley rallied to win 33-30 in the first game under Matt Wasilewski, while Darcy Kepner guided Princeton to a 61-12 victory in her debut as the Tigresses’ coach.

“It means a lot,” said Kepner, who previously was an assistant at PHS. “I was very nervous beforehand. I’m glad I have the group I have. They made it easy for me.”

In the first game of the night, Putnam County defeated Stark County, 36-21.

The tournament continues Tuesday with Bureau Valley and Stark County playing at 5 p.m. followed by Streator against Henry-Senachwine/Lowpoint-Washburn and Princeton against Midland.

Putnam County 36, Stark County 21

The Panthers faced a significant size disadvantage with a starting lineup that featured three players at 5-foot-7 along with players who are 5-6 and 5-5 compared to 6-0, 5-9, a pair of 5-7s and a 5-6 for the Rebels.

But Putnam County adjusted its defense and limited the Rebels to eight points or less to win its opener.

“In the first half, they were 0 for 6 from 3,” Sale said. “We tried to do it on the fly in the first half doubling the big girls on the block. We did OK, but weren’t getting the rotation on the back end of it. We talked about it at halftime and (Zofia) Uzella did a really nice job in the second half. We were making that rotation on the backside and doubling that post because they were trying to go short corner then enter it. Our guards on top, we went against pretty much everything we teach, but we packed it in as much as we could and pretty much dared them to shoot. It ended up working.”

Offensively, Ava Hatton carried the Panthers in the first half as she scored all seven of their points on a pair of mid-range jumpers and a 3-pointer.

The Rebels limited her in the second quarter, but Erin Brooker sank long 2-pointers on back-to-back possessions early in the second to get going and scored all 12 of PC’s points in the frame as the Panthers build a 19-9 halftime lead.

“Ava was hot early then they tried to take her away,” Sale said. “They went to a box for a few possessions. Even in box, we were able to get Ava the ball. Everything was help up. We were able to make that kick and Erin knocked down 3-4 shots in the second quarter. It took all that pressure back off Ava and everything opened back up for her. To have two capable scorers who can work well with each other, if we can do that every night, it’s going to make the offense flow a lot easier.”

Hatton finished with a game-high 17 points, while Brooker had 12.

Bureau Valley 33, Midland 30

The Storm struggled with the Timberwolves’ 1-3-1 zone press in the first quarter and into the second, committing eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes and scoring only two points during that span.

But several players off the bench gave Bureau Valley a spark, and the Storm rallied within four points at halftime before opening the second half on a 10-0 run.

In a tight fourth quarter, Kate Stoller lifted the Storm to victory as she scored on an assist by Ashley Nordstrom with 54.1 seconds left then split a pair of free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining.

“It was an ugly game offensively and defensively,” Wasilewski said. “The first game of the year, its kind of what you expect. We had some jitters early on. We were able to get those out of our system. I have to give a lot of credit to all the girls who came off the bench. They all gave us significant minutes and did a lot of good things.

“There’s a lot to build on. There were a lot of glaring errors we have to fix, but there were a lot of positives, most of all the hustle and intensity. We got down, 14-4, and we fought back. We hit some big shots, got the lead and kept going. The girls deserve that win.”

After falling behind, 14-4, the Storm changed their defense and got all eight of their points from reserves with four from Ryley Egan and a bucket each from Taylor Neuhalfen and Lynzie Cady.

“We started putting a little bit more pressure on the ball,” Wasilewski said. “They have a couple good guards. We were allowing them to dictate their offense to us. We wanted to dictate our defense to them.”

In the second half, the Storm made an adjustment on offense to get Kate Salisbury in the middle in the high post, and she responded with 12 points in the final 16 minutes.

Salisbury finished with 12 points, while Kate Stoller added nine.

Princeton 61, Streator 12

Mckenzie Hecht converted a three-point play early in the first quarter and the Tigresses cruised from there.

Olivia Gartin drained a 3, and after a scoreless possession, Princeton scored on six consecutive trips down the floor with five drives to the basket and a fastbreak.

“I was really excited,” Kepner said. “The girls came out hot. I knew they would have a lot of energy. I’m glad we could get the first win on our home floor.”

The Tigresses led 22-2 after the first quarter and 33-8 at halftime.

“I think we’re really hard to defend off the dribble,” Kepner said. “I just told them to keep taking it to the basket, and that’s what they did.”

Defensively, the Tigresses pressured the Bulldogs into 16 turnovers in the first half, which Princeton converted into 13 points.

“I thought the girls got up and pressured well,” Kepner said. “We created some turnovers that led to some points. We did well.”

Hecht led Princeton with 17 points, while Isa Ibarra added nine points.

Rilee Talty and Marisa Vickers each had four points for Streator. Vickers added 10 rebounds.

“I knew it was going to be kind of a struggle to score this year,” Streator coach Beau Albert said. “We got some shots, we just couldn’t get them to go down. We’re switching from a traditional zone last year to trying to teach man-to-man principles. There were times I thought we had some good possessions on defense where we got over and helped, altered some shots and got a stop, and other times that we gave up some pretty easy layups. It’s something we have to work on in practice.

“With this group, there’s not much varsity experience back, so it’s going to be a daily process to try to get better.”