Princeton trips Hall on Olivia Gartin’s late 3-pointer

SPRING VALLEY – The Princeton girls basketball team has a knack for hitting tie-breaking 3-pointers against Hall.

The Tigresses did it twice in a week during the COVID-19 spring season.

And they did it again Thursday night.

Olivia Gartin broke a tie with 1:06 left with a 3-pointer. Isa Ibarra added 1-of-2 free throws with 14.9 left and the Tigresses (6-0, 1-0) escaped with a 40-36 win in their Three Rivers Conference East Division opener.

“It felt great to be able to contribute to the team in a positive way,” Gartin said. “I think Kenzie [Hecht] deserves as much credit for that shot with her assist. When the pressure is high, it can be hard to take the risk, but I think confidence is truly what makes our team work.

“Coach has also done a really nice job of dedicating time in practice to shooting and i think our offense reflected that tonight.”

Hecht led the Tigresses with 17 points, while Gartin added 16.

Hall took a 28-27 lead after three quarters and Toni Newton stretched it to 30-27 with an inside bucket.

Gartin knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game only to have Hall sophomore McKenna Christiansen follow with one of her own to put the home team back up 33-30 with 5:15 to play.

Ibarra scored on a putback and Hecht followed with two hoops, the first on a putback and the second on a loose ball under the basket, to give the Tigresses a 36-33 lead.

Christiansen, who matched Newton for scoring honors for Hall with 11 points despite sitting a good portion of the second half in foul trouble, hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 36.

Gartin returned the favor this time with her tiebreaker 3-pointer, taking an assist from Hecht. Hecht also made the assists on both of Princeton’s game-winning 3-pointers last spring against Hall by Brynn Hieronymus.

“Can’t say enough about Olivia,” Princeton coach Darcy Kepner said. “Her hard work in practice and her leadership on the floor is shining through right now. She’s a big-time player who makes big-time plays when we need her to. Very happy for her and excited to get our first conference win as a team.”

“We didn’t box out and gave them a second chance and didn’t recognize where the shooter was,” Hall coach T.J. Orlandi said.

Christiansen made a steal and with a wide open path to the basket with about 30 seconds left and elected to pull up for a 3-point attempt at the top of the key and missed. In hindsight, Orlandi wished she would have taken the layup to make it a one-point game.

“McKenna’s a smart basketball player,” Orlandi said. “I know what her mindset was there. ‘I just got a steal. I’m our best shooter. We’re down 3 and there’s about [30 seconds] left. I’m not going to get a better look than this.’

“What I would have liked, and in hindsight, is to take the layup. I have two timeouts. I call timeout and set up my press. Princeton’s 6-of-19 from the line. You’re playing the odds that they’re going to miss the 1-and-1 and you’re coming down down one, maybe two with a chance to tie it or maybe take the lead.

“She’s a smart player. It’s just one of those things. It’s a learning experience.”

Hall (2-4, 1-1) scored the last six points of the first quarter and the first three of the second quarter to go up 16-9, the largest lead by either team all night.

Princeton was able to tie the game at 20 late in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Gartin and putback by Hecht.

Hall kept up its promise for when Promise Giacometti took a post feed and beat the buzzer for a 22-20 halftime lead.

“I was pretty proud of the effort of the girls,” Orlandi said. “When you’re playing without your best player for a half pretty much, it’s pretty tough. We held the lead and just kind of fought and had a shot at the end. Pretty happy with the effort there.”

Kepner was equally pleased with her team’s never give up attitude.

“I was really proud of the girls and how they adjusted when things didn’t go our way,” Kepner said. “We kept fighting and working on both sides of the floor. Their effort to never quit was what made us successful tonight.”

* Notes: Princeton outscored Hall 14-1 in the fourth quarter to win the sophomore game going away 37-21. Miyah Fox had 18 points and Olivia Mattingly added 13 for Princeton. Ana Vasic had 10 and Kennedy Wozniak six.