Understaffed Tigers have tough time in tourney

Posted 1/3/17

Jessica Moore of Germantown Friends (with ball) drives past West Chester East's Lexy Hartman. The eighth-grade forward was named to the all-tournament team at Plymouth Whitemarsh. (Photo by Tom …

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Understaffed Tigers have tough time in tourney

Posted

Jessica Moore of Germantown Friends (with ball) drives past West Chester East's Lexy Hartman. The eighth-grade forward was named to the all-tournament team at Plymouth Whitemarsh. (Photo by Tom Utescher) Jessica Moore of Germantown Friends (with ball) drives past West Chester East's Lexy Hartman. The eighth-grade forward was named to the all-tournament team at Plymouth Whitemarsh. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Short-staffed due to absence and illness, Germantown Friends lost both of its games at the Plymouth Whitemarsh Holiday Tournament last week, but at least the Tigers were able to gain experience in two relatively competitive contests.

Although they fell behind by 10 points in the opening quarter in Thursday's semifinal, the Tigers were still within 11 points of West Chester East High School with under two minutes remaining in the game. The Vikings then collected the last four points to fashion a 44-29 victory.

The next day in the tournament consolation game, GFS was just three points behind Bodine High School for International Affairs at the three-quarter mark (18-15), then the Ambassadors went on to prevail 28-22. Jessica Moore, a forward who is still only in the eighth-grade, led the Tigers with 12 points in each outing, and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

The Tigers went into the new year with an overall record of 3-7, and with a 1-1 mark within the Friends Schools League.

The one team that was somewhat out of place at the tournament was actually the one from the host school; the 7-0 Colonials are just too good this year. Plymouth Whitemarsh cruised past Bodine in the semifinals, 64-29, and then really took it to West Chester East in the championship game, romping 75-24.

While not a powerhouse this season, West Chester East is still a large public school with a sizeable pool of athletes, and the Vikings have good overall height on this year's squad. With Germantown Friends marking down a lone field goal for Moore, WCE bolted to a 12-2 lead during the opening quarter of Thursday's first semifinal game.

First-year GFS head coach Mike Lintulahti remarked, "The kids have been terrific and have tried to do everything we've asked them to do. Our biggest riddle solve right now is how to give a consistent effort for a full game. We've sort of developed this pattern of putting ourselves in desperation mode on the scoreboard, instead of starting out with a sense of urgency and playing throughout the game like that."

GFS got its offense functioning in the second period, starting with a lay-up by senior Ajai DuBose and then getting three field goals from Desiree Norwood, Moore's eighth-grade classmate. Later, a jumper from just above the foul line by senior Lilly Dupuis helped the Tigers outscore the Vikings 10-8 during the quarter, creating a 20-12 tally for halftime.

West Chester's Marissa McDonald knocked down two shots in the opening minute of the third round, and for the rest of the period the teams pretty much traded points. It was 32-21 heading into the fourth frame.

The new period opened with a made free throw by Norwood, but then GFS slipped farther behind during a little 6-0 run by the Vikings.

Later on, a three-pointer by junior Corin Grady would make it 40-29 with one minute and 40 seconds left to play. The Tigers wouldn't score again, though, while their opponents added a lay-up and two free throws.

Eighth-graders Moore and Norwood provided most of the points for Germantown, with 12 and 10, respectively. The Vikings' McDonald finished with 13 points, one shy of the game-high of 14 put up by her teammate, Caroline Lewis. WCE improved to 3-3 with the outcome, but would drop back below .500 the next day against PW.

GFS had already been playing without the vacationing Maya Keren, a junior veteran with a long reach. On Thursday the Tigers' young guard, Norwood, had already been under the weather while she provided double-digit scoring for her team, and on Friday she was unable to play.

With only seven girls available to face Bodine in the consolation game, this was not quite the same GFS squad that had beaten the Ambassadors, 35-25, three weeks earlier in the finals of the Tigers' own Germantown Community Tournament.

Bodine, in its sixth outing of the season last Friday, was looking for its second win. Germantown's Moore tied the game early at 2-2, then Bodine climbed to a 7-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The only two scorers for the Ambassadors in the game would be guard/forward Keyanah Price and point guard Canya Harp. Price can use her muscle to be effective in the paint and can shoot from farther out, while the smaller Harp can employ her quickness to penetrate while also posing a threat from the three-point loop.

While GFS struggled on offense through much of the second period with just a short jumper by Moore and a free throw by DeBose, the two leaders for the Ambassadors powered their team to an 11-point advantage. Right at the halftime buzzer Germantown's Grady hit a jumper from the left wing to make it 16-7 at the break.

"You can see the energy pick up when we make a basket," Germantown's Lintulahti said, "and then when we get into these scoring droughts our spirit dwindles along with it. Our confidence sort of ebbs and flows; we need more consistency mentally as well as physically."

Lintulahti's halftime instructions clearly had an effect on the Tigers, as Moore came out to score twice on drives to the hoop, and DuPuis then stole the ball back and cashed in. When Moore put in a runner from the lane, Germantown Friends was just one point behind. With nine seconds to go in the third quarter, Price converted off of an offensive rebound for Bodine to start the final period at 18-15.

The Ambassadors' defense stiffened, and although they sent GFS to the foul line several times, they did not allow any Tiger field goals in the fourth quarter. Germantown was still only down 22-17 with over three minutes to play, but the odds on a comeback became longer as Bodine's Harp scored off of a steal and then banked in a midrange jumper to make it a nine-point game.

The Tigers soon took those four points back, though, getting into the foul bonus and having both Moore and Grady complete flawless one-and-one's. The team's next two free throws failed to fall, and Bodine's Price put in a pair at the other end to move the contest into its final minute with the score 28-21.

The Ambassadors didn't fare as well from the charity stripe after that, reaching the double-bonus but missing all eight of their free throws. Unfortunately for Tiger fans, their team was only able to add a lone free throw by DeBose to make it a six-point defeat.

Moore led the GFS scorers with 12 points and was followed by DeBose and Grady with four apiece, and Dupuis, with two. Price put in 15 and Harp had the other 13 for the victors.

"I'll live with our effort in the second half," Lintulahti said. "Again, we just need to play more of the game that way. We want to work toward being more consistent on the boards, and doing things like getting on the floor to go after loose balls.

"We want to take care of the basketball better," the coach continued, "and we're working on learning to recognize game situations with the time and the score. Those things come with playing a lot of basketball, and the kids are still learning our system."

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