By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The girls basketball team matched up against Lighthouse Conference opponent Sturgis in the season opener Tuesday afternoon in Hyannis and coasted easily over the league foe 65-14.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Bianca Brown looks to put up a shot from underneath the basket during Tuesday’s 65-14 victory over Sturgis. |
Nantucket’s originally scheduled opening game against Dennis-Yarmouth on Thursday was postponed due to inclement weather.
While the win over Sturgis set the Whalers (1-0) off on the right foot, the squad has some stiff competition on the horizon. Nantucket will host a talented Whitinsville squad Saturday and then match up against Division IV champion Cohasset at the Cohasset Christmas Tournament on Dec. 29.
“We are coming up against a tough schedule and we are going to take our lumps here, but hopefully we can continue to get better. I have some quality players out there. They have the potential to be very good, but they have to do the right things,” head coach Willis Ferreira said.
With a substantial lead over Sturgis within minutes of tip off, the Whalers were unable to focus on some of the concepts they have been stressing in preseason practices such as rebounds, outlet passes to the fast break as well as the press.
“It was tough because its the first game and you want the kids to have some success early in the season and get some confidence. But at the same time, everything we talk about at practice we have to throw out the window because we are trying to keep the score down,” Ferreira said.
Despite holding the Storm to only 14 points, Ferreira was not pleased with the defensive effort of the Whalers squad as well as their 23 turnovers in the game.
“We did not box out. We did not do what we were supposed to do,” he said.
Offensively Nantucket saw some success, shooting 31-of-47 from the field, mostly on open lay-up opportunities. The glaring problem on the offensive side was the 2-for-13 mark from the free-throw stripe.
“We missed way too many foul shots and that has always been a problem,” Ferreira said.
Opening day
Nantucket dressed nine players for the opening game, but had only three subs on the bench after freshmen Jessica Halford was forced to sit due to injury after getting the start. Junior varsity call-ups Dacia Beans and Drew Moore were also unable to play Tuesday.
All nine players that dressed saw some action and got in the scoring column for the Whalers. Angela Paterson and Shantel Hanniford paced the team with 14 points each, while Ashley Clinger tallied a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Lindsay Fry scored eight points along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
The Whalers showed dominance from the opening tip. Bianca Brown tapped the ball directly to Shantel Hanniford who dropped in the easy lay-up for the first points for the game. From there, Nantucket coasted to the 23-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior co-captain Angela Paterson scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game.
The Storm started to move the ball more efficiently late in the second quarter against the Whalers zone defense and Julie Caldwell knocked down two field goals on back-to-back possessions. But Nantucket team newcomer Andrea Moore responded with a quick seven points, including a three pointer with under two minutes remaining to send the Whalers into the break leading 40-7.
With the game well in hand, the Whalers sat back slightly on the defensive end in the third quarter, allowing Sturgis offensive rebounds and second-opportunity shots. Caldwell knocked down two more jump shots from the right wing, but the rest of the Storm line-up could do nothing to challenge the Whalers. Hanniford scored six points in the paint and made a nice-look, quick pass to Caroline Stanton (six points) open underneath the basket for the bucket to widen the margin to 53-11 at the end of three en route to the win.
Caldwell led Sturgis with eight points while Krystal Cappola scored three.
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