The Patriots are without two key players in their lineup, but are finding enough talent to get the job done. Saturday, Gray-NG had a number of players make plays down the stretch to lift the Patriots to a 57-47 win over Spruce Mountian.
“It’s different but everyone contributes,” junior guard Izzy DeTroy said. “It’s kind of a next-man-up kind of thing. We know we have able-bodied people on our team. As long as we keep rolling, we’ll be okay. Everyone’s willing to work.”
Gray-NG (7-1) is without senior center Alanna Camerl and junior guard Alicia Dumont. Both aren’t expected back from injuries until later this month. Their loss puts a significant dent in the Patriots’ game and rotation. Gray-NG only played seven players Saturday, but got contributions from everyone.
“We’ll have the full contingent back at some point,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said. “Our rotation, it takes away from every depth level right now. We don’t sub a whole lot. I think it’s something where when we get them back and they’re healthy, we’ll be a pretty touch matchup.”
DeTroy led the Patriots with 14 points, including six in the final quarter. She was also the team’s top shooter at the free throw line, sinking six. The team as a whole shot 15-for-30 from the line. Grace Kariotis finished with 12 points, including four free throws and a crucial 3 in the fourth. Ashley Jordan added 12 while Skye Conley finished with 11.
Emily Hogan led Spruce Mountain (2-5) with 15. Alex Bessey added 13 while Haley Turcotte had 11. With only three returning players back from last year, the Phoenix are also limited in depth. That made working through Saturday’s foul trouble extra challenging.
The Phoenix were within reach the entire game and were as close as 44-41 with 3:27 left, but Spruce Mountain couldn’t score consistently to turn the tide.
“We had some bad turnovers,” said Spruce Mountain coach Chris Bessey, whose team is missing sophomore forward Hanna St. Pierre to injury. “There were a couple of possessions in a row where we had a travel or a double dribble, which gave them the ball back. We had a stretch where we stopped them from scoring, but we’d turn the ball over. We missed some bunnies in the paint and we missed some free throws when we had opportunities. You’re not going to beat a good team at their place when you doing things like that.”
The Patriots had bumped the lead up to 44-34 early in the fourth on baskets by Conley and DeTroy. After two Rylee Moore free throws, Hogan drilled a 3 with 3:29 left. Moore added two more free throws and the Phoenix were within 44-41.
Gray-NG answered. DeTroy found Conley on an inbounds pass under the basket that drew a foul. Conley sank one. Then the Patriots got a 3 from Kariotis with 2:34 left to make it 48-41.
“I thought that Grace 3-pointer was huge,” Andreasen said. “They were inching closer and closer.”
From there, the Patriots finished it off from the line. Spruce Mountain got two free throws from Alex Bessey to get within 48-42 with 2:18 left, but Gray-NG only added to the lead from there. Brianna Jordan, DeTroy and Kariotis all sank free throws and DeTroy scored on a press break to finish the game with a 9-4 run, that included seven of their last 10 free throws.
“It was gutsy,” Andreasen said. “It wasn’t pretty. Our defense keeps us in games and allows us to possibly win games when the offense is going right.”
The Phoenix raced out to a quick 9-2 lead on 3s from Bessey and Turcotte. The Patriots settled in and started to execute more effectively, finishing the opening quarter on a 10-0 run, producing a 12-9 lead.
“They came out pretty hard,” DeTroy said. “We knew they were a pretty good team and that they could shoot 3’s. So we were hoping we could settle in. Our defense settle and we started working better.”
The Patriots began to use their inside game and opened the lead. With Moore nursing early foul trouble and some fine work by Gray-NG to get the ball into the post, the lead was up to 27-23 at the half.
“We had to make sure we made it difficult to get it into the paint,” said Bessey, who had two players foul out and had two others finish with four fouls. “They were getting in there way too many times, either penetrating or getting passes inside. We did a better job of that in the second half.”
The Phoenix also started to create more offensive chances against the Patriots zone. In the first half, 18 of the team’s 23 points came from six 3’s. The Phoenix started to get some penetration but still struggled to finish. Gray-NG had the lead up to 32-25 in the third before entering the fourth up 38-32.
The Patriots got points from all seven players that played. In the second half, DeTroy, Brianna Jordan, Kariotis, Ashley Jordan and Conley each had at least four points. Though missing Camerl in the post and Dumont in the backcourt are significant missing pieces for the Patriots, Gray-NG is got by with a variety of players helping the cause.
“Our team is full of people willing to work hard for each other,” DeTroy said.
kmills@sunjournal.com
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