By Dean Geddes
I&M Staff Writer
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Aislinn Dugan went eight for nine at the foul line in the second half against South Shore Saturday.
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Freshman Angela Paterson scored 25 points – including three three-pointers – in her first varsity game, as she carried the Whalers to a 56-43 win over South Shore Vocational on Saturday.
Trailing 34-31 with 9:32 left in the game, the Whalers’ offense exploded, outscoring the hometown Vikings 25-9 to end the game.
Nantucket (1-0, 0-0 in the Lighthouse Conference) won despite being heavily out-rebounded in the game. Viking freshman Haley Bulman was a force on the offensive glass, giving her team multiple shots on many of its possessions. But the Whalers played solid defense, contesting the Vikings’ shots and generating a handful of turnovers using their full-court press.
The Whalers finished the game with 17 steals and three blocked shots.
Paterson and sophomore Aileen Fredericks each had five steals, and Paterson had two of the Whalers’ blocked shots.
The game stayed close the entire first half. The largest lead for the Whalers came when senior Ashley Stetson hit a jumper with 6:30 remaining in the half to give Nantucket a 14-11 edge.
Then the Vikings reeled off five straight points, taking a 16-14 lead before Nantucket’s Evie O’Connor missed a shot but got her own rebound and sank a second-chance lay-up to tie the game with 5:25 left before halftime.
The Whalers got into foul trouble in the first half and the Vikings were in the double-bonus for the final three minutes of the half. With the extra trips to the free throw line, the Vikings were able build a 24-20 lead with less than a minute left in the half, but Paterson knocked in a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds left on the clock to bring the Whalers within one.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Nantucket’s Angela Paterson drives to the hoop in the second half against South Shore Saturday. Paterson had 25 points in the Whalers’ opening win. |
An ill-advised Whaler foul on the inbounds pass sent Viking Kathryn Desimone to the free-throw line, where she hit one of two to put her team up 25-23 at the half.
“We didn’t rebound,” head coach Willis Ferreira said at halftime. “Our three goals for this game are to defend, rebound and fast-break. We can’t run the fast break without getting rebounds.”
In the second half, Paterson took over, scoring nine points in the first eight minutes of the period. Paterson’s three-pointer with 8:30 left in the game tied the score at 34.
“She’s an offensive machine.” Ferreira said.
“She can shoot the three, take it to the basket, and she can make that mid-range jumper.”
Less than a minute later, senior Aislinn Dugan faked out her defender, drove to the basket, scored and got fouled. After she converted on the foul shot, the Whalers had a 37-34 lead they would never give up.
Dugan was second to Paterson in scoring with 12 points. Mandy Cahill led the team in rebounds with six, and Evie O’Conner had a team-high three assists.
In the second half, it was the Vikings who were plagued by foul trouble as the Whalers got into the double-bonus with 6:08 left to play.
Dugan made the Vikings pay, going eight for nine at the foul line in the second half.
After the Whalers took the lead in the second half, they went back to their successful full-court press and put the game out of reach for good.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Nantucket’s Aislinn Dugan (11) and South Shore’s Brittany Page (12) fight for control of the ball following a rebound during the Whalers’ 56-43 win Saturday. |
With less than four minutes remaining, Dugan stole the ball on the press and was fouled as she made the ensuing lay-up. After her free throw, the Whalers had a comfortable 49-37 lead.
Ferreira said he was impressed with the way his team handled itself with three of core players – Cahill, Whitney Butler and Dugan – having to spend extra time on the bench because of foul trouble.
Junior Calli Moore, one of the Whalers’ top rebounders, missed the game because of a sprained ankle.
“For the most part, our players who came off the bench and stepped in for them didn’t miss a beat.”
The Whalers faced Chatham Tuesday night, too late for this edition of Sports.
They welcome the Blue Devils to Nantucket at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow and face Easthampton at home Saturday at 4:30 p.m. They play at Cohasset Monday at 4:30 p.m.
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