Notre Dame rebounds with win over Ewing
LAWRENCE » After struggling against Allentown High Tuesday, the defense for the Notre Dame High girls basketball team showed up in a big way Wednesday when the Irish hosted Ewing High.
Viewing the game as a must-win, Notre Dame put the clamps down defensively and got Blue Devils senior star Mya Grimes in early foul trouble, then never let up on Ewing on the way to a 62-49 win.
In doing so, the 15-5 Irish held 17-4 Ewing’s high-scoring attack to its third lowest scoring total of the season.
“After we lost to Allentown (68-55), we knew we had to win to show who we really are,” ND 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Erika Porter said. “(Tuesday) our defense wasn’t really there. Today we came out ready to play.”
Porter, who scored 10 of her 11 points in the first half, and 6-1 senior forward Britt Seymour (eight rebounds) worked hard and hustled to rebounds and loose balls in the lane to get Grimes to pick up two fouls in the first eight minutes. Grimes’ third came with 6:17 left in the second quarter and relegated her to the bench for the remainder of the half.
“When Mya went out, we knew we had to pick it up to get us rolling. Someone had to do it,” said Ewing’s 5-8 sophomore guard/forward Jentle Sheridan, who scored six of her eight points in the second quarter to help the visitors stay as close as 26-21 at halftime.
That was important since the Irish had held the Blue Devils to single-digit scoring (seven points) in the first quarter despite the absence of senior point guard Hailee Jantorno, who is recovering from an injury.
Ewing’s new life quickly disappeared after intermission when Grimes re-entered and was called for her fourth foul 28 seconds into the second half.
Without the Colonial Valley Conference’s scoring leader, the Blue Devils were once again held to single digits in the third quarter, while ND 5-5 junior guard Leah Johnson got hot, scoring 10 of her game-high 23 points in the third.
Johnson added three more baskets in the fourth quarter to go with her eight assists and four steals in the game to quell the Blue Devils’ hopes of a rally, even after Grimes returned. Junior guard Kayla Burnett added 11 second-half points, including three 3-point field goals, to make life harder on the visitors.
Ewing cut the lead to 55-45 when 5-7 junior guard Jaycee Lowe (15 points) went coast-to-coast for a layup with 3:02 to go, but Johnson hit her classmate, Amy Jones, in the corner for a 3-pointer, then came up with a steal and score to push her team’s lead back to 60-45 with 2:30 left.
Grimes, who averages 20.3 points per game, never fouled out, but was limited to four points (all in the fourth quarter).
Grimes 2-0-4, KiylPeterson 1-4-6, Gillette 3-1-7, Lowe 4-6-15, MJackson 3-3-9, Sheridan 2-4-8.
15-18-49.
Totals —
ECrawford 2-0-4, BriSeymour 1-0-2, NSmith 2-1-6, Burnett 4-0-11, AJones 2-0-5, LJohnson 10-1-23, Flowers 0-0-0, Porter 4-3-11, Mahle 0-0-0.
25-5-62.
Totals — Ewing (17-4) NotrDame(15-5) 3-point goals — 7 15 14 11 9 19 19 — 17 — 49 62
Lowe (E), NSmith, Burnett 3, AJones, LJohnson 2 (ND).