Girl’s basketball hit the road for their second meeting of the season with Haddon Township on Monday night and returned home with an impressive, come from behind win to move to 19-5.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be losing going into the fourth quarter, but now you can look back,” head coach Bret Jenkins said. “It showed us that we’re obviously not out of it. They stepped up and did it.”
“Haddon Township’s a great team and really well coached. We just did a great job to get back in the game. All the credit to the girls.”
Cinnaminson, after trailing 38-32 entering the fourth, outscored the Hawks 16-2 in the final stanza to record the 48-40 victory.
“Today was definitely a good game and that will definitely help us in the playoffs,” junior Anne O’Malley (10 points) said.
The Pirates previously beat the Hawks 38-32 at a tournament hosted by Eastern. Marisa DiLeo led the Pirates with 13 points that day. She poured in 15 tonight to move within three points of 1,000 for her career.
Fiona Flynn added 11, while O’Malley put together excellent defensive play.
“Defense is more of my strong suit, but on offense I’m working on driving to the baskets and getting more points,” O’Malley said.
“I thought Anne was great today,” Jenkins said. “She’s become so much tougher and physical in there. Now when she grabs rebounds she seems so comfortable. And today scoring 10; to have that addition really helps.”
The game was knotted at 14 after the opening quarter and the Pirates held a two-point advantage (28-26) at the break before Haddon Township dominated the third quarter.
What went from a back-and-forth contest in the first two quarters turned into sheer domination by both teams in the third and fourth quarters as the Hawks outscored the Pirates 12-4 in the third to take a 38-32 lead heading into the fourth.
In what could easily be the best quarter of basketball yet this season for the Pirates, Cinnaminson outscored the Hawks 16-2 to secure the win.
“I think we knew that it was going to be a close game and we wanted it more than them to get the win,”O’Malley said. “Our passes were great and we knew when to drive to get fouls called.”
Not only was the offense on fire in the fourth, but the Pirates defense turned it up a notch. Cinnaminson forced errant passes, short shots, blocked shots, steals and traveling calls that contributed to the offensive outburst.
Haddon Township opened the fourth with a bucket to make it a 40-32 game. The Pirates then went on a 16-0 run to end the contest.
“It’s very rare that a high school team is that calm and under control down eight with a big crowd at an away game against a very good team with some really good players,” Jenkins said. “All the credit has to go to the girls. That’s a tribute to our leaders and our seniors, especially the ones on the bench.”
The Pirates return home Tuesday night to host Willingboro at 6:15pm for senior night. Cinn City Sports will have coverage of the game so be sure to follow us on Twitter for live updates throughout the game.
“These seniors are really special, all six of them, it’s going to be tough to lose them,” Jenkins said. “I don’t think many people realize what all six of them do for this team.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cinnaminson
|
14 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 48 |
|
Haddon Township
|
14 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 40 |
Pirates Scoring:
Marisa DiLeo- 15
Fiona Flynn – 11
Anne O’Malley – 10
Tori Robinson – 6
Maddie Ogden – 4
Alex Kane – 2
[…] Pirates Use Stellar Fourth Quarter to Knock Off Haddon Township […]