:quality(70):focal(850x399:860x409)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/ASU7P7BTLFGITCAYO26POGIXVA.jpg)
Princeton was fast starting while Bureau Valley was slow to start in Monday night’s openers in the Princeton Holiday Tournament.
Both were winners in their first night out.
The Storm spotted Henry-Senachwine an 8-6 lead in the first quarter, but held the Mallards to three points in the second on the way to a 46-23 win.
“Man, the first quarter and a half it looked like we were playing the first game of the year. I told the girls I was hoping that’s not what it was going to look like, but I kind of expected that. Most coaches do,” BV coach Matt Wasilewski said. “Our defense picked it up. We decided to focus on taking the ball out of the point guard’s hands and make somebody else bring the ball up and that kind of got us going.”
The Tigresses meanwhile rode the hot hand of junior Olivia Mattingly, who sank five 3-pointers en route to a 19-point effort, to coast to a 55-30 win over Stark County in the nightcap in the return of Tiffany Gonigam as coach.
“We came out with a lot of fire and I think that’s just what they do best. We wanted to set the pace and play in the fullcourt for awhile. And that’s where they shined, both on the offensive and defensive end in transition,” Gonigam said.
Midland beat Mendota, 34-24, in the night’s first game.
The Tigresses are back in action at 8 p.m. Tuesday vs. Streator. Bureau Valley takes the day off, returning to action at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday vs. Erie-Prophetstown.
Bureau Valley 46, Henry 23: After their slow start, Storm outscored the Mallards 13-3 in the second quarter to take a 19-11 halftime lead. The Storm surge continued into the second half where Bureau Valley held a 27-12 advantage.
“The girls played hard. Hit some key shots. Defensively, we made a lot of steals and fouled a little bit too much. It will be interesting going forward to see what we got against Erie-Prophetstown (Wednesday),” Wasilewski said.
Senior point guard Kate Salisbury led the Storm with 19 points and senior Kate Stoller and junior Taylor Neuhalfen added 10 points apiece.
Wasilewski said he told the Storm to keep shooting when they were missing some shots.
“I don’t think I’ve ever told a girl in my life stop shooting, because they don’t do it (shoot) enough,” he said. “We got a lot of shots off. When we get into a rhythm, I think we’ll be all right.”
Princeton 55, Stark County 30: Mattingly had back-to-back threes late in the first quarter to lead the Tigresses to an early 18-4 lead
She was just warming up.
Mattingly hit three straight threes in the second quarter as the Tigresses stretched their lead to 36-15 at halftime. On the night, she knocked down five of nine 3-point attempts, finishing with a game-high 19 points She was also PHS’ leading rebounder with six.
“She came to play, wow. It’s amazing to have a shooter like that. And I know there’s more on the team just waiting to come out,” Gonigam said. “To get 19 points with five 3-pointers, you’ve got to know where to get open on the zone and she just found those spots tonight.”
Also for PHS, sophomore Keighley Davis scored 12 points and senior Miyah Fox had eight. Nine different girls got into the scoring column.
“I’m really happy. The girls were wanting to get out and compete. I was wanting to get them out there and see what they can do,” Gonigam said. “You never know what you got until that first game. We’re going to enjoy this one, but it’s just one step in the journey that is the season.”
* In the F/S tournament portion at Bureau Valley, Princeton beat Mendota 27-5 Monday. Danika Burden and Ava Kyle each had 10 points for PHS.