BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
ROME — After a back and forth first half Troy’s defensive pressure and offensive rebound began to wear on NEB, allowing them to pull away for a 51-36 win during NTL girls’ hoops action Wednesday.
The game was tied 29-29 late in the third when the Trojans ended the frame on an 8-0 run, then scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take a 14 point lead and the Panthers never recovered.
“We increased our intensity,” Troy coach Steve Renzi said. “We brought our pressure. On offense we’re still young. They’re all young girls, they’re not experienced varsity basketball players, and they’re coming. They’ve come very far in a couple of weeks, and they’re getting much better, but we’ve just got to put a whole game together.”
For the Panthers it’s another close loss to a league foe where they struggled to hang with them in the second half.
“Lay-ups have been our Achilles’ Heel the last two games, but I really felt the third quarter was our lack of rebounding,” said NEB coach Ben Beebe. “They had one possession where they had six attempts. They out rebounded us in the third quarter by a crazy amount, which really hurts.”
The Trojans finished with 14 offensive rebounds on the night.
Troy’s Giana Renzi netted 16 points, shooting 6-for-10 with three 3-pointers, to go with two steals, as Haidyn Watson had a hot hand, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting. She also had three 3-pointers, and added five boards.
Raelynne Woodward added 13 points with five boards, and two blocks, as Kyah Renzo had five points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
Emma Mickley chipped in with three points, and five rebounds - all on the offensive end.
Leah Beebe led NEB with 19 points to go with four boards, and two steals, while Mallorie Maynard had 11 points, and five rebounds.
Aurelia Kolesar notched two points, five boards, and three steals, while Kara Dughi, and Sara Gray had two points apiece. Dughi also had four boards, while Katrina Russell finished with two steals.
Scoring was hard to come by early as the two teams were tied at four halfway through the first quarter.
Giana found Woodward to break the tie, only for Maynard to score off a Kolesar pass. Giana would hit a 3-ball to make it 9-6, but a Beebe lay-up cut it to 9-8.
A Woodward put back pushed Troy’s lead to 11-8, but a Beebe 3-ball late tied things up at 11-all.
Watson opened the second with a 3-pointer, then Giana hit another 3-ball for a 17-13 lead halfway through the second quarter.
Mickley would make a free throw for an 18-13 lead, but NEB rallied with a 5-point spurt as Maynard knocked down a 3-ball, then scored off a Dughi lay-up to tie things up at 18-all.
Woodward broke the stalemate with a 3-ball for the 21-18 Trojan lead at the half.
NEB came out of the locker rooms firing as Beebe hit a 3-ball off a Maynard assist, followed by Dughi scoring for a 23-21 Panther lead.
A Renzo 3-pointer put Troy up 24-23, but Beebe found Kolesar for a bucket to make it 25-24 NEB.
A Watson put back put the Trojans back up 26-25, with Maynard going 1-for-2 from the line for a 26-all score at the four minute mark of the third quarter.
The teams traded buckets to 29-29 when Watson drew a fourth foul on Russell. She had to go to the bench for NEB, while Watson went 1-for-2 to put Troy up 30-29.
That started the Trojan run as Woodward came back with a lay-up, followed by a Watson 3-pointer off a Renzo assist.
Woodward found Giana for a runner late in the frame for the 37-29 lead going into the fourth.
“That’s just taking their legs out from underneath them,” Renzi said about their run in the third. “The girls have grit, and they work immensely hard at playing basketball.”
Watson nailed her third 3-pointer to start the fourth to make it 40-29, followed by Renzo going 1-for-2 from the charity stripe.
A Giana lay-up gave Troy their largest lead of the game, 43-29, before Maynard ended the run with a free throw.
A Giana bucket with 3:57 left made it a 15-point game for the Trojans.
A Beebe 3-pointer with 1:10 left to play cut it to 47-36, but those were the last points the Panthers scored as the Trojans hit four free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
Troy also took the JV game, 23-20, finishing the game 3-on-5 do to two plays fouling out. Kyli Oldroyd netted 14 to lead Troy while Maggie Chappell had nine for NEB.
Divisional play starts for both teams with Troy hosting Wyalusing on Friday. The Rams beat Troy in their first meeting last season.
“They’re all going to be tough,” said Renzi. “We’ll just keep playing hard, and playing who we’ve got on the schedule.”
For NEB they welcome NP-Liberty to begin their title defense.
“We’re just going to keep plugging ahead,” Beebe said. “That’s what we do, you can’t look backwards; those games are done. We’ve got to keep working.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
