Every divisional game is a big one, but tonight’s between girl’s basketball and Bordentown was really big in the Freedom. The Pirates came in with a 6-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the division. Bordentown came in with a 6-3 mark and a 1-1 record in the division.
The Pirates escaped with a win after a last-second bucket from Anne O’Malley, 41-38, to move to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the division. With a week off, the Pirates have plenty of time to prepare for their showdown with Holy Cross (2-0 Freedom) next Thursday.
Cinnaminson got off to a strong start, outscoring the Scotties 8-2 in the opening quarter, but quickly found themselves trailing in the second.
“A lot of credit needs to go to them (Bordentown),” head coach Bret Jenkins said. “For us to not hit a three in the entire game shows what type of night it was for us because we do hit a decent amount. We missed way too many layups.”
“After we got that early lead it didn’t seem to frazzle them. Their defense did a nice job and offensively, their shots started falling.”
After the official timeout in-between quarters, Bordentown came out firing, scoring the first seven points to take a 9-8 lead. The Scotties extended that lead to 22-17 at the break.
Fiona Flynn scored seven of her game-high 20 in the first half to lead the Pirates.
It was a back-and-forth third quarter, with the Pirates trailing 31-25 heading into the fourth. Flynn scored seven of the Pirates eight points in the third and Cinnaminson was not going to go quietly.
“Our bench, they’re really supportive,” O’Malley said. “They always try to cheer everyone on even when they are not having their best game. We just had to keep our heads up and stay positive.”
Flynn stayed in the game despite being in foul trouble, adding six more points in the fourth quarter. O’Malley finished the night with seven points, five of them coming in the fourth.
“It was hard,” Flynn said. “We were tired, but we do so much running at practice that our endurance builds up. We didn’t give up the whole time. We just stuck through it.”
Two of O’Malley’s seven points were her biggest, coming on a shot with just a little over 10 seconds left in the game and the Pirates trailing 38-37. Her bucket gave Cinnaminson a 39-38 lead with 11 seconds left on the clock.
“That play, Marisa (DiLeo) got pushed down,” O’Malley explained. “She rolled it over. I thought, ‘you gotta take this. There’s only a few seconds left in the game, make it or miss it.’ We practice it a lot with shots like those. I’m glad to see it went in.”
Bordentown moved the ball upcourt and drew a foul, but missed both free throws. Cinnaminson rebounded and took control of the ball.
Marisa was fouled with four seconds left, sending her to the line for two shots. DiLeo connected on both, giving Cinnaminson a 41-38 lead. Five of DiLeo’s seven points came from the foul line (5-of-8) as the Pirates shot 13-of-21 from the line.
“I like to give a ton of credit tonight to our bench,” Jenkins said. “We were down eight at one point in the second half and to hear the support and encouragement they were giving the girls was incredible.”
The Scotties were able to get the ball upcourt one final time, but could only get off a two-point attempt that missed to end the game.
“We know now that even when we’re not playing our best we still have the drive to want to win that badly that we will pull it out,” Flynn said. “For games moving forward, even if the shots aren’t falling, we know not to get down because will work twice as hard to get that win.”
The Pirates do not take the court again until Thursday, January 21 when they host the Lancers for a key Freedom game. Holy Cross will not play another Freedom game between now and the matchup with Cinnaminson next Thursday.
“Scoring baskets in the lane under pressure,” Jenkins said of improvements needed before facing Holy Cross. “Finishing at the rim and not worrying about defense. Shots weren’t falling for us tonight, but they were over the last week or two so you hope that it is just a bad night.”
Thursday’s three-point win was the first win of the season for the Pirates that did not come via double digits.
“We talk about the importance of winning close games. Tonight can give us a ton of confidence,” Jenkins said. “Our schedule is really going to start to beef up here in the next couple of weeks and I’m expecting a ton of close games.”
“I think this can only help us in that sense, give us more confidence. We can come back after being down a fair-share amount.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Bordentown | 2 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 38 |
| Cinnaminson | 8 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 41 |
Cinnaminson Scoring:
Fiona Flynn – 20
Marisa DiLeo – 7
Anne O’Malley – 7
Tori Robinson – 2
Maddie Ogden – 2
Angela Oliveira – 2
Alex Kane – 1
[…] two teams met once already this season, with the Pirates picking up a 41-38 victory thanks to a late bucket from Anne O’Malley. Fiona Flynn led the Pirates in scoring with 20 […]