By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The girls basketball team cruised to three more wins this week, with easy victories over Provincetown 68-20, South Shore Voke 59-37 and Cape Cod Academy 61-35.
The easy victories come with a price, however.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Shantel Hanniford takes a shot in the second half over Provincetown’s Simone Rose and Natalie Silva. |
“It is frustrating for everyone. We are coming out flat in every game because I think we know what the outcome of every game is. I need them to play hard when they are out there. This is going to hurt us in the long run,” head coach Willis Ferreira said. “We have to get better and practice and push each other, and the last five games will let me know where we are at.”
The Whalers improved to 12-1 overall and 4-0 with two games to play in the Lighthouse Conference. The girls squad will wrap up the league schedule against Sturgis today and Provincetown Saturday before seeing tougher competition next week.
With double-digit leads this week, the Whalers are typically taken out of the full-court press, fast-break style of play. Instead they are left to focus on one of their weaknesses.
“Our half-court offense. We are still a little impatient. One pass and we shoot it.
We need to look for cutters, the back-door cut, especially in man-to-man,” Ferreira said. “We have two weeks to get it together. We have the talent we just have to figure it out and a lot of that depends on them.”
The Whalers pressed early against Provincetown on Monday and got a few layups and the early lead. Nantucket was up 29-10 at the break. The Fishermen added only 10 more points in the second half as the Whalers again posted 29.
Angela Paterson paved the way with a game-high 23 points. Aileen Fredericks scored nine, while Lindsay Fry and Whitney Butler scored eight points each. Shantel Hanniford, who was back in action for Nantucket this week for the first time this season, scored four points.
For Provincetown, Sadie Santos scored a team-high six points and Simone Rose added five.
Against South Shore on Saturday at home, the Whalers were putting up plenty of shots early, but not many were falling. Nantucket used its height advantage inside to turn those missed shots into offensive rebounds and put-backs.
“Players like Cassie (Moran) and Fredericks, when they are wide open, they have good shots and if they don’t make them, we have a chance to rebound them,” Ferreira said. “Mandy (Cahill) and Whitney and Bianca (Brown), they work hard inside for rebounds and that’s where they get most of their points.”
The Whalers scored 14 of their 34 first-half points off of offensive rebounds. Nantucket led 34-18 at the break.
In the second half the Whalers pulled away with fast-break points from Moran and Fredericks and a three-pointer from Paterson.
Paterson and Fredericks led the Whalers with nine points each, while Butler (seven rebounds), Cahill (15 rebounds) and Moran (two blocks, four steals) knocked down eight points each. Fry played well off the bench for Nantucket with two three-pointers and eight points.
“They went to a box-and-one on Angela. We try to make Angela a passer out of that formation so we can get other kids to score and that’s what we have to do. I thought it was good we got a lot of kids with eight and nine points,” Ferreira said. “That is what other teams are going to do to us. That is the reality of it. Other guys have to get better and have to be willing to take shots.”
Against Cape Cod Academy last Thursday, Paterson took control of the game with team-high 24 points.
“It was good to see Angela get back on track offensively. She is up and down and needs to be more consistent,” Ferreira said.
Moran filled in at point guard to let Paterson move back out onto the wing.
“Playing the point and trying to score, sometimes it is tough. There is a lot of pressure on Angela to do everything. This seemed to work. She was able to catch and shoot rather than dribble and shoot and that helped,” Ferreira said.
Hanniford made her first appearance of the season for the Whalers and scored eight points in the win. Ashley Clinger scored eight and Fry added six.
The Whalers led 30-16 at halftime.
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