Princeton repeats winning script against Hall

Girls basketball: Princeton 41, Hall 35

You couldn’t blame the Hall Lady Devils if they’d seen how this story ends before.

Hall senior Zoe Morris, like she did Thursday against Princeton, tied the game up, this time with two straight 3-pointers to bring the game even at 35 with 1 1/2 minutes left to play.

Princeton senior Brynn Hieronymus repeated her heroics from Thursday, taking the same pass from teammate McKenzie Hecht and hitting another 3-pointer from the same spot on the floor, putting the Tigresses ahead for good.

For good measure, Hecht repeated her pair of free throws following the Hieronymus 3-pointer as the Tigresses sealed a 41-35 Senior Night victory.

“The girls were kind of laughing, because they tied it up and Brynn pulls through with a 3. The girls said, ‘Coach, it was the same exact design.’ Hecht had the ball from the opposite wing and fired it across and Brynn was ready,” PHS coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “I knew the alignment was there. I didn’t know if it would happen.”

PHS senior Taylor Quiram led PHS (4-2, 3-1) with a season-high 18 points plus eight rebounds. Senior Gray May and junior McKenzie Hecht (8 rebounds) each added eight points.

Hall was led in scoring by seniors Gia Pozzi (9), Zoe Morris (8) and Jaclyn Cinotte (7).

The PHS seniors were especially excited to play and win in front of their parents, who were allowed to attend for the first time this season for Senior Night under COVID-19 guidelines.

Quiram said it was louder in the gym and May said it felt like more normal with their parents there.

“It’s nice to have the support. We’ve had the band and the poms here, but it’s nice to have a little more familiar faces,” May said.

“It’s just so good to see everyone and have the extra cheering. I know the girls really appreciate it. I appreciate it as a coach,” Gonigam said. “I can imagine as a parent, it’s so special being able to see your kid, especially on Senior Night.”

PHS led throughout, but no more than seven points early in the second and third quarters, and just by six in the fourth quarter.

What helped the Tigresses gain an edge in the fourth quarter was a new wrinkle they put in just for this game with Quiram and May working the high-low game. May hooped twice in a row taking feeds inside from Quiram to extend the PHS lead to 30-25.

“It really worked well for us,” May said.

Gonigam did not want to have the same thing happen as it did with Bureau Valley when they won the first game and lost the second, so they mixed things up for Hall the second time around.

“We wanted to have a little bit different game going in today. All four of our post players had a chance to work on that yesterday, But boy, that worked really nice today,” she said.

Pozzi hooped for the second straight time as Hall closed within 30-27. Cinotte sank 2-3 free throws when she was hacked in the act shooting a 3 to make it 33-29 with 2:43 left to play.

Quiram took a pass from May this time to put the Tigresses back up by six at 35-29.

Morris wiped that deficit out with back-to-back 3s, the first on an inbounds play from the left corner, to suddenly tie the game just how she had Thursday in the last minute.

Hieronymus knocked down her second go-ahead 3-pointer of the week from the right wing with 1:20 left to put PHS back on top at 38-35.

“We talked in timeouts how closely they were guarding Brynn. We weren’t able to run as many sets cause of that. But when it came down to it, I’m sure that was frustrating (for Hall) after tying it up,” Gonigam said. “I know they had keyed in on Brynn, I know they were, just because we could see it, and I’m sure it was frustrating then to have that shot get knocked down.”

Hecht tacked on two free throws and senior Savanna Birkey added one to close out the 41-35 victory.

“The kids played really hard today. Once again, we saw a Hall team that wouldn’t give up. It was a competitive game all around,” Gonigam said.

Hall scored the first five points of the game, but the Tigresses tallied the last seven of the first quarter, including May’s buzzer-beater on an inbounds play to put PHS up 7-5.

Back to back baskets by McKenna Christiansen and a hoop by Pozzi on a high-low pass from Morris helped Hall cut a 7-point deficit to 14-11 at the half.

Gonigam was just happy to have a night to honor her seven seniors, including Abby Jensen and Emma Wittig, when there was no assurances there would be one in the COVID-19 season.

“You come in to this season, you don’t know how long it’s going to last and what it’s even to look like. From our first day of practice, I told the kids, my goal was to get these seniors this opportunity to have Senior Night in Prouty Gym and we got that tonight,” she said.

“A lot of teams have had to change their schedules a lot more than we have. The fact we got to have a Senior Night, especially for the seven great young girls we have was special. I see the live stream we have and the comments, they’re such a bright spot in this community. A lot of people look up to them. That’s just a testament to who they are and I’m really proud of them.”

Notes: PHS doubled up Hall in the sophomore game, 32-16. Jen Tirao and Marah Hobson had seven points each and Olivia Gartin and Isa Ibarra added six each. Toni Newton and Promise Giacometti had six points each for Hall. ... The PHS freshmen opened the day in their season debut with a 12-11 win over Putnam County. Myah Fox had seven points. ... The Hall hoopsters return to action at home Monday vs. Rockridge, which replaces St. Bede on the schedule, and will host PC on Wednesday. The Tigresses are back on the Prouty Gym hardwood Tuesday vs. Newman.

At Princeton

Hall 5 6 10 14 - 35

Princeton 7 7 10 17 - 41

HALL (0-5, 0-2): Morris 2 (2) 2-2 8, Mautino 0-0 0-0 0, Spoonmore 1-2 0-0 2, Craig 1-4 (0-1) 0-0 2, Christiansen 3-11 (0-4) 1-2 7, Pozzi 3-5 3-4 9, Cinotte 2-9 (1-7) 2-3 7, Giacometti 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 12-43 (3-20) 8-11 35. Fouls: 15. Turnovers: 17. Rebounds: 26 (Pozzi 9, Morris 6).

PHS (4-2, 3-1): Birkey 0-8 (0-3) 1-2 1, Wittig 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Davis 1-2 (1-2) 0-2 3, Hieronymus 1-1 (1-1) 0-0 3, G. May 4-9 0-0 8, Hecht 1-7 6-8 8, Quiram 7-14 (0-1) 4-4 18, Sorenson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-44 (2-8) 11-17 41. Fouls: 12. Turnovers: 10. Rebounds: 34 (Quiram 8, Hecht 8). Assists: 8 (Quiram 4).

SOPHS: PHS 32-16. PHS (6-0): Tirao 7, Hobson 7, Ibarra 6, Gartin 6, E. May 4, Kruse-Carter 2. HALL: Giacometti 6, Newton 6, McLaughlin 2, Jones 2.