Lenox girls’ hoops have huge win on opening night

LENOX – The Millionaires have the daunting task of being in the same league as the Lee Wildcats, but don’t tell that to Lenox Head Coach Nicole Patella, who knocked off Lee in the Western Massachusetts semi-finals last year and returned both Liz Mitts and Hayden Zinchuk.

“I am pretty happy with their fitness, and I have a bunch of shooters who are unselfish – they look for the open person – so I am really happy,” Patella said.

She could not have been more happier than after last Friday night’s win over Holyoke Catholic, as the Millionaires had 10 players reach the scoring column, as well as a perfect second quarter where the Millionaires outscored their opponent 19-0 in the 50-14 win.

“We didn’t shoot well in the first quarter – but that second quarter we got one to fall and everything fell-in after that – which was nice being up 20 points by the half,” Patella said.

The key was the frontcourt of the Millionaires, led by Mitts and Zinchuk, who both had 12 points apiece in the win.

“I told [Mitts] that since her shot wasn’t falling in the first quarter to get to the line, and she did,” Patella said.

Lenox held a slim 8-5 lead after one quarter, before pressing in both the backcourt and trapping high as Holyoke Catholic traveled past the mid-court to force several turnovers allowing both Mitts (six points) and Zinchuk (five points) to get a majority of their points in building a 27-5 halftime lead.

“That’s our game – we have to press in order to get our running game going – we can’t stay stationary – the girls are up and down that’s what they like to do,” Patella said.

Running the point position is junior Hollie Downer, who has been asked to take the reigns of the offense from all-star Jen Delasco, who needs another surgery to help repair an injured collarbone.

It appears Delasco will be missing significant time in the coming weeks, forcing Patella to rely on Downer.

“[Downer] stepped up really well,” Patella said. “She has to go up against the opposing team’s best defensive player, and I thought she did an outstanding job.”

Along with Mitts and Zinchuk in the frontcourt is the athletic Kathy Prescott, who had four points and several key steals in the second quarter to get the Millionaires’ offense on track.

“[Prescott] was outstanding defensively tonight,” Patella said.

Zinchuk also had three steals in the first half and will be asked to cover the opponent’s best scorer as the season wears on. Yet, Patella will need to strengthen her bench in order to have the success of last year’s team.

“We have to develop our bench,” Patella said. “I have girls that can run for 32 minutes, but I’d rather they not – so I want to develop our bench and get a better rotation.”

Jaclyn Gigliotti and Jaclyn Hathaway will be two players asked to step up this season and add to the scoring column if the Millionaires will have a repeat performance of last year’s upset of Lee in the semi-finals.

“I am still trying to figure out my rotation – I have a big unit and I have a smaller unit – whatever we need at the time is what we are going to use,” Patella said.

With Lee struggling on the boards in their first game, Lenox could once again play the role of Cinderella in the tourney with their large athletic frontcourt.

“I’d say I am comfortable with the big players I have,” Patella said.

Posted by Tim Davis on December 13, 2012. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry