Lawrence finally gets to taste victory

LAWRENCE» Like the rest of her young teammates, Lawrence High sophomore guard Heaven Cartwright listened to her new head coach and kept working hard in practice because one day it would pay off in a game. That day was Wednesday. Cartwright, who had not scored more than six points in a varsity game all season, suddenly found the range on her jump shots.

With Cartwright’s swishes to the left and swishes to the right, it made it hard for Princeton Day School to simply focus on her freshman backcourt mate, Briana Audet.

And it kept the Cardinals in the game.

The new-found confidence from all the hard work for head coach Antonio Stapleton brought Lawrence its first win in 33 games by holding off the Panthers, 45-43.

“I learned how to shoot. I’ve been working hard. We all have,” said Cartwright, whose 16-point performance tied her with Audet for team-high honors. “Coach has us working hard all the time, and we were playing really hard today. It was crazy.”

After nine losses to start the 2017-18 season, the first win was rewarding.

“Things have started to come together,” Stapleton said. “This is a confidence builder.”

The teachings of Stapleton and assistant coach Tiffany Howe showed as the Cardinals took an early lead, then fought back four times in the second quarter after PDS went ahead. When the squads went to the locker room tied at 29, both came back out looking to play better defense.

Try as they might, coach Kamau Bailey’s Panthers could not shake the home team. After never leading in the third quarter, Princeton Day School took its only lead of the second half (41-39) when senior forward Madison Coyne led her classmate Kate Bennett for a layup with 4:13 to play.

Coyne was practically unstoppable with 20 points, 15 rebounds, five blocked shots, five steals and five assists in the game. However, in the second half, the Panthers could not get their guards back in the offense. Senior Ryan Robinson had 11 points, all in the first half.

“We have to learn from our mistakes in the second half, and we have to finish strong,” Bailey said.

Before PDS had much of a chance to enjoy their lead, Cartwright scored off a pass from junior Khalin Hemingway with 3:25 to go.

Freshman forward Kendra Dempsey took a charge on Robinson at the other end on the next possession, and the game stayed within the Cardinals’ reach.

Free throws by Audet, Dempsey and Hemingway (two) helped the home team stretch its lead to four points before Coyne scored with 12 seconds left.

The Panthers had one more chance to tie when Coyne was fouled on a drive with one second left. Her foul shot missed and Hemingway hauled in her 12th rebound to lock up Lawrence’s first chance for celebration since 2015-16.

“There’s still so much more that we have to incorporate,” Stapleton said. “The girls still have to learn to be under control. But they’re young and they’re learning. It’s a long journey, but I’m loving it.”

After Wednesday, it will be a little easier for Cartwright and her teammates to enjoy that ride as well. RRobinson 4-0-11, Kane 0-0-0, Bennett 2-0-4, Coyne 7-6-20, Smukler 3-0-6, Amaral 1-0-2.

17-6-43.

Totals —

Stokes 1-0-2, Hemingway 0-2-2, Ripberger 0-0-0, Rishindran 1-1-3, Cartwright 7-0-16, Audet 5-2-16, Dempsey 2-2-6, Vugumudi 0-0-0.

Totals —

16-7-45.

PDS (2-11) Lawrence (1-9) 3-point goals — 13 11

RRobinson 3 (PDS), Cartwright 2, Audet 4 (L).

*** 16 18 8 9 6 — 7 — 43 45

NOTRE DAME 58, HIGHTSTOWN 18 LAWRENCE » Trailing after one quarter, the Notre Dame High girls basketball team put together a burst of 23 unanswered points in the second half to power past Hightstown.

Natalie Smith led ND’s turnaround, scoring 23 points with four 3-point field goals. Eve Crawford followed with 11 points for the Irish.

Kenny 1-0-2, Velez 1-2-4, ARusso 1-0-2, Mount 2-0-4, Slattery 2-0-6. — 7-2-18.

Totals

Jantorno 1-0-2, ECrawford 5-1-11, MCrawford 1-0-2, NSmith 9-1-23, AJones 0-0-0, LJohnson 3-1-7, Wright 0-0-0, Flowers 4-0-8, Porter 2-1-5.

Totals — Hightstown(1-8) NotreDame(8-2) 3-point goals — 0 — 16 — 18 58

LAWRENCEVILLE 71, FRIENDS CENTRAL 41 PHILADELPHIA » Taylor Thompson’s 16 points led three Big Red in double figures in this road win at Friends Central.

Victoria Dugan backed Thompson with 15 points, and Jordyn Ford chipped in with 10 points.

Thompson 6-3-16, Baginski 4-0-9, Bebel 1-0-3, JFord 5-0-10, Dugan 6-2-15, Safir 1-4-6, Molgat 2-2-6, Gillen 3-0-6.

28-11-71.

Totals —

RSmith 3-2-8, Shoemaker 1-0-2, Malone 2-1-5, OJordan 2-0-5, NJordan 7-5-21.

15-8-41.

Totals —

25-4-58. Slattery 2 (H), NSmith 4 (ND).

L’ville (6-4) FriendsCnt.(6-7) 3-point goals — 9 7 19 4 0 23 19 11 9 12 8 11 25 — 15 — 71 41

Thompson, Baginski, Bebel, Dugan (L), OJordan, NJordan 2 (FC).