Plenty of firsts in Lady Pilgrims’ win
NEW CARLISLE — It was a memorable opening night for the Plymouth High School girls basketball team Thursday. Besides being the team’s season-opener, it was the debut of new head coach Micaela Schalliol and the first look at starting freshman point-guard Lena Jones.
On all accounts, it would have to be considered a success as the Lady Pilgrims secured the thrilling 52-48 road victory over New Prairie.
“It was an amazing game,” said Schalliol, who took over the program after Dave Duncan retired at the end of last season.
It helped getting double digit scoring from three players - Taylor Delp (18), Clare Sheedy (13) and Jones (12), as well as good defense led by Sara Hunter to offset nine 3s by the Lady Cougars.
“That’s what makes basketball fun, right?” added Schalliol. “The chemistry this team has, even in the first game, is amazing to see. The bench energy is exactly what we need as well.”
Hunter scored five of her seven points, including a 3, in the first quarter, but Eva Dodds and Jayden Flagg combined for all 13 of NP’S points and held a two-point lead heading into the second frame.
The Lady Cougars’ lead rose to six before Plymouth chipped away and eventually tied it at 20 on two free throws by Jones. An 8-0 run later put the Lady Pilgrims ahead 28-23 before an NP bucket by Flagg ended the first half. At that point, Flagg (13) and Dodds (10) had scored 23 of the team’s 25 points.
“We talked about finding #4 (Dodds) and #11 (Flagg) in our zone (at halftime),” added Schalliol. “Then #33 (Morgan White) went off (three 3s) in the second half, but we shut down who we needed to shut down when we need to and followed the game plan.”
New Prairie had another quick start in the third quarter and led by five before an 8-0 Plymouth spurt, ending with a Delp layup off a Jones feed, knotted the score at 40-all and the score remained tied (42-42) entering the last period. Delp (10) and Jones (4) scored all the team’s points in the third quarter.
The last tie came with 4:37 remaining, then over the next two minutes a 3 by Sheedy and another Jones-to-delp layup combination put the visitors up, 50-46. Flagg made two foul shots to cut the lead to two with 1:00 remaining, but a Jones layup after a long pass from Kaylee Dragani with 52 seconds left ended up being the final points
as Plymouth forced two NP turnovers over the final minute.
“We made sure we used the clock when we needed to,” concluded Schalliol. “We had three girls in double digits scoring, two girls in double digit rebounding, and a bunch of deflections by Sara Hunter at the top of the defense which was key. Our 1-3-1 defense was excellent. For her first varsity start, Lena had a great game. She’s going to control the pace of the game for us.”
Plymouth held New Prairie to just six points in the decisive final period.
The competition level wil jump up considerably for Plymouth in its next game as it travels to Class 3A No. 3 Mishawaka Marian Tuesday.
• PLYMOUTH 52, NEW PRAIRIE 48
PLYMOUTH: Sara Hunter 2 2-2 7, Ellie Jones 0 0-0 0, Taylor Delp 8 2-4 18, Madie Mann 0 0-0 0, Lena Jones 5 2-3 12, Kaylee Dragani 0 0-0 0, Emma Krupp 1 0-0 2, Rylee Mann 0 0-0 0, Clare Sheedy 6 0-0 13.
TOTALS: 22 6-9 52.
NEW PRAIRIE: Eva Dodds 5 0-0 13, Jayden Flagg 6 2-2 17, Caramia Wallace 0 0-0 0, Maddie Mcsurley 2 2-3 6, Jaiden Winters 0 3-4 3, Morgan White 3 0-0 9, Kaylee Hoggard 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 7-9 48. Score by quarters
Plymouth 11 28 42 52
New Prairie 13 25 42 48 3-pointers: Plymouth 2 (Sheedy, Hunter), New Prairie 9 (Dodds 3, Flagg 3, White 3). Fouls (fouled out): Plymouth 13 (none), New Prairie 10 (White)
Records: Plymouth 1-0, New Prairie 0-2 JV score: New Prairie 50, Plymouth 29