Monument girls pick up first win of season over Braves

GREAT BARRINGTON – The start of the 2012-’13 season for the Lady Spartans has not been easy up to this point, as they have had to forego their athletic forward Samantha White for undisclosed reasons and also battled chemistry issues.

Yet, the Lady Spartans put together a solid first quarter against Taconic last Friday and fought off foul trouble in the second half to earn a 49-41 win over the Braves.

“We have a lot of kids, who I give credit to, that are playing out of position,” said Spartan Head Coach Chris Unsworth. “When they get into foul trouble, then we have kids who are way out of position.”

The Spartans relied on solid outside shooting throughout the game, to offset the height advantage of the Braves, by converting on five three-pointers and building a 16-9 lead after the first quarter.

Hannah Rolf lead the Spartans in the first half by knocking down a trey to put Monument up 21-13 in the second; she scored eight of her 10 points in the first half.

The Braves made a late first-half run, on a questionable lay-up that could have been ruled traveling, and a pair of free throws in the closing minute to cut the lead to 21-17, as the Spartans started to get bit by foul trouble.

“[Foul trouble] takes a toll offensively,” Unsworth said. “It’s not just about defending their big people, it’s trying to score off their bigs when you are not a post person.”

The Spartans survived the second half as Rolf picked up her fourth foul, thanks to the outside shooting of both Heather Hassett (12 points) and Vanessa Troiano (12 points).

“That’s what we’ve relied on all season long – is getting a good quality shot,” Unsworth said. “We have some kids who can shoot.”

Monument survived a three-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter after the Spartans held a 34-27 lead after three quarters.

Hassett, who is normally a small forward/combo guard, played in the paint throughout the game and battled the Braves larger frontcourt. Hassett ended the scoring drought with 5:21 left when she knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Spartans a 36-29 lead.

Hassett added a crucial three off an inbounds play, and Kayla Aberdale knocked down a three to put the Spartans up 43-33 with 2:42 left.

“[Hassett] is a competitor,” said Unsworth, “probably one of the most intense kids I have come across – fundamentally she doesn’t stop. She is right in the middle of everything, and she hit a big three for us at the end of the game.”

Hassett put the icing on the cake as she converted a breakaway lay-up to put the Spartans up 45-33.

After the game, Unsworth praised the defensive effort and his team’s ability to play together and get a needed win.

“We did a decent job preventing baskets and they were having a hard time shooting at the line,” Unsworth said. “[Our team] hasn’t been playing with each other for a long time; we have a lot of first-year varsity players – and they are getting more comfortable with each other and trying to figure out the spots each other likes on the floor.”

The victory put the Spartans at 1-3 overall for the year.

“Hopefully it just gets better for [us],” Unsworth said. “Learning how to win is not overrated.”

Posted by Tim Davis on January 3, 2013. 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