The Lady Pirates won the second round of playoffs in the Group 2 Tournament today against eighth-seed and defending sectional champion Lower Cape May. The final score of the game was 40-29, making the girls’ record for the season 22-6.
The win tied the school record for wins in a season.
It was a low-scoring start for both teams. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 9-5 with Cinnaminson winning.
At least 4 girls were able to score 2 points during the first quarter, including Marisa Dileo, the top scorer of the game (19 points).
During the second quarter, only freshman Maddie Ogden was able to make a basket. This allowed Lower Cape May to have the lead at halftime with a score of 15-11.
“[Going into the second half], we knew we just really didn’t shoot well. We shot 0-15 for three’s and missed a boatload of free throws,” head coach Bret Jenkins said. “We wanted to keep playing hard on defense. We just kept saying keep our confidence in terms of shooting.”
The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the Tigers and the Lady Pirates. Sophomore Fiona Flynn tied the game up with a basket and subsequent free throw, making the score 19-19 with a couple minutes remaining. The Tigers answered with a basket right away.
Freshman Maddie Parrish was able to score a basket and tied up the game at the end of the third quarter with a score of 21-21.
“[During the fourth quarter], we just wanted to keep it going on defense,” Jenkins said. “The only reason we were in the game the first three quarters was because of our great defense. Once a few shots started falling during the fourth quarter, everything went our way.”
Junior Anne O’Malley started the fourth quarter by netting 2 consecutive baskets within the first minute and a half of play, allowing Cinnaminson to grab the lead with a score of 25-21.
Senior Marisa Dileo took over from there by scoring 14 of her total points for the night during the fourth quarter alone. Cinn City Sports talked to her after the game about her team’s victory tonight.
“I wasn’t getting points right away but we also weren’t making shots so I figured someone had to do something so I stepped up and did what I did. I’m happy we won,” Dileo said.
Dileo’s effort along with a great team effort on defense allowed the girls to hold the lead until the end of the game. The final score was 40-29, meaning the girls will continue their playoff run this Saturday against Haddonfield in the semifinal game.
Jenkins talked about some of the Lady Pirates’ weaknesses he’d like to improve on and the strengths he’d like to continue for the upcoming game.
“I would to improve a little bit on our mental toughness. I thought we did a couple things out of character today… so you have got to give Lower Cape May some credit for that,” Jenkins said. “I would love to continue our defense, its intensity and how hard we work. As long as they work their butts off on defense, it’s hard for me to ever get mad at them.”
Check Cinn City Sports tomorrow for the semifinal round preview versus Haddonfield. Cinn City Sports will have coverage of the semifinal game on Saturday, March 5 at 4pm.
Follow Cinn City Sports on Twitter for news, scores and live updates from games throughout each season. Like Cinn City Sports on Facebook. Sign-up for our daily newsletter, which arrives daily at 8am with the previous day’s stories, on the homepage.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lower Cape May
|
5 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 29 |
|
Cinnaminson
|
9 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 40 |
Pirates Scoring:
Marisa DiLeo – 19
Fiona Flynn – 6
Anne O’Malley – 6
Maddie Ogden – 3
Maddie Parrish – 2
Alex Kane – 2
Tori Robinson – 2
