Pennington races past Stuart at Tip-Off tourney
HIGHTSTOWN » Probably the toughest decision for Pennington School varsity girls basketball coach Jeff Eckerson after the championship game of the Peddie School Tip-Off Tournament Saturday was which of his charges to pick as Most Valuable Player.
Senior sharp shooter Carly Rice is always an option because of her long range bombs, which open the game for the rest of what the Red Raiders like to do. She was eventually Eckerson’s pick after scoring 13 points with three 3-point field goals as Pennington raced past Stuart Country Day, 50-26.
But, in this tournament, 6-foot-2 junior center Leah Johnson began to play a way which could make the Red Raiders tough to beat this season.
The younger of the two Johnsons on the team, Leah came back from a good opening-round game with a dynamic championship game, which surely made the MVP selection hard on her head coach.
As deadly as Rice’s daggers were, Johnson’s play inside was just as frustrating for the Tartans, who had pulled out an emotional win over Peddie Friday night to make the final.
When Pennington took a 4-2 lead early in the game, Leah Johnson went on her own nine-point tear over the next three minutes. When Rice hit her second trey of the quarter with 2:20 left, the Red Raiders had a 16-2 lead.
Still, that was simply a taste of what Leah Johnson can do.
With her team leading, 3216, and just over five minutes left in the third quarter, Johnson put together a two-minute, 10-0 run to give Eckerson’s squad a 42-16 edge with 3:07 to go in the quarter.
“I do feel it when I’m scoring like that,” said Leah Johnson, who also hauled in 12 rebounds. “When I get hot, it’s a confidence boost for me and my teammates.”
After missing a lot of time at the start of last season because of illness and injuries, the younger Johnson sister is ready to help alongside her sister, Ayanna (a 5-11 senior forward who added five blocked shots, seven points and 23 rebounds), any way she can.
“I definitely do feel like I’m in a lot better shape to start this season,” Leah Johnson said. “Our coaches have told us that our defense and conditioning are going to be key for us.”
Their conditioning and scoring spurts wore down Stuart’s defensive efforts. After drawing as close as 19-10 in the second quarter, the Tartans saw Pennington respond with its own 8-2 run to close the half.
Hoping to cut into the lead again to start the second half, coach Justin Leith’s squad met trouble when 5-11 junior forward Bey-Shana Clark picked up her fourth foul in the middle of Johnson’s tear.
“We needed to be fronting her and boxing her out,” said Clark, who joined Leah Johnson and Rice as an All-Tournament pick. “The next time we play them we’ve got to come out with more fire than we did today.”
Spaulding 2-1-6, Michaels 0-0-0, BClark 1-24, Hansford 1-0-2, AJames 0-0-0, Dunn 0-0-0, Morales 1-0-2, Lagay 0-0-0, Melvin 2-2-6, Adams 0-0-0, Martin 2-2-6.
9-7-26.
Totals —
AJohnson 3-1-7, Rice 4-2-13, McCracken 0-0-0, Andrade 0-0-0, LJohnson 11-3-25, EGarry 0-0-0, AGarry 0-0-0, Christian 1-1-3, AKavulich 0-0-0, SKavulich 0-0-0, Kiefer 0-0-0, Kennedy 1-0-2.
20-7-50.
Totals — Stuart (1-1) Pennington (3-0) 3 18 9 9 8 19 6 — 4 —
Spaulding (S), Rice 3 (Pn).
26 50
LOOMIS CHAFFEE 52, PEDDIE 40 HIGHTSTOWN » The Falcons and Pelicans were in a close battle until the fourth quarter when Loomis Chaffee went on a 19-8 run to seal the outcome.
Peddie 6-1 sophomore Janayshia Brown scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer which gave coach Sarah Crider Venanzi’s team its final lead, 32-31, with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.
Brown was named to the All-Tournament team, along with Pelicans senior Tate Jordan. Loomis Chaffee junior Madison Stevens matched Brown’s game-high point total.
Stralkus 4-3-11, Rodgers 0-2-2, Grant 0-0-0, Rodriguez 1-3-5, JBrown 3-8-15, Hall 1-0-2, Guest-Hicks 0-0-0, Gorajek 0-0-0, Favours 2-0-5, Owunna 0-0-0.
11-16-40.
Totals —
Campbell 0-0-0, BJohnson 1-0-2, Jordan 2-04, Lawrence 0-0-0, Stevens 4-5-15, BoachieYiadom 3-0-6, Bennett 1-0-3, Hanley 2-2-8, Dos Santos 0-0-0, Burris 5-1-12, Anderson 0-0-0, Cauley 1-0-2.
19-8-52.
Totals — Peddie (0-2) LmsChffee (1-1) 3-point goals — 14 13 7 8 11 12 8 — 19 —
JBrown, Favours (P), Stevens 2, Bennett, Hanley 2, Burris (LC).
40 52