Orange Live

Some of the action from Wednesday’s game.

By PHIL BRODSKY

Orange Live Sports Writer

 Sponsored by Pat Cardozo from Coldwell Banker

In her pre-season report, Amity girls’ basketball Coach Michelle Martinik revealed that one of her team’s goals is to keep an opponent from scoring more than 39 points a game. True to their coach’s word, the Lady Spartans used their aggressive, stingy to post a 41-31 season-opening victory over Sacred Heart Academy Wednesday night. The Southern Connecticut Conference inter-divisional contest was played in Woodbridge. The Lady Spartans also forced the Pacers to make 15 turnovers and hit only nine of their 44 shots (20%) from the floor. On top of that SHA, which was rated to be one of the top teams in the Quinnipiac Divison of the SCC, was good on only 13 of its 20 free throw attempts (65%).

According to Martinik, “It’s always nice to start the season with a win. I thought we played really good defense tonight. We worked hard, helped and communicated well with each other.”

An early field goal by Molly Schmitt and back-to-back scores from Chloe Brinton (who finished with a game-high 16 points) staked the Lady Spartans to a 6-1 lead that they never gave up. Brinton added two free throws to extend Amity’s lead to 14-5 with 1 minute, 48 seconds left in the first quarter. Shortly thereafter, the Pacers’ Shyla Osmond completed a three-point play and cut her team’s deficit to 14-8 at the end of the opening session.

 The second period began with Brinton and Kristen Post dropping in consecutive lay-ups that opened up a 10 point (18-8) Amity lead. After scoring those two field goals in the first minutes of the second quarter, Amity netted only one field goal during the remainder of the first half (a Brinton bulls-eye with 4:27 left in the first half). While the Lady Spartan offense went into a lull, their defense kept harassing the Pacers, allowing them to connect on only two of their 15 shots in the second quarter (five of 29—17% in the first half).

 Late in the first half, Molly Ronan and Janea Graham both canned pairs of freebies as Amity walked off with a 24-16 lead at the break.

Fully aware that Sacred Heart had defeated her team three times last winter, Martinik said, “They are a good team and have given us some tough battles in the past. When our offense cooled off, we compensated for that and fought through the offensive draught with some tight defense and rebounding.”

The Lady Spartans’ offensive draught carried over for the first half of the third period. Prior to freshman Elise Graham swishing a base line jumper with 3:58 to go in the third quarter, Sacred Heart had gone on a 15-7 spurt and drawn within  two points (25-23). After Lexi Cafasso’s put back early in the third quarter, the Pacers did not record another field goal until Michaela Montini’s drive with 32 seconds left on the clock. Amity was able to preserve its advantage when Brinton stole the ball and drove home a lay- up that opened up a 31-23 lead.

Continuing to harass the Pacers with their tenacious defense, the Lady Spartans allowed only two Montini field goals in the final 1:25 of the fourth quarter. Amity did not record a field goal during then final sessions but maintained its upper hand by netting nine of 16 from the foul line.

The winners netted 12 of 44 shots from the floor (27%) and 17 of 27 (63%) from the charity stripe. Led by Post’s nine rebounds along with eight more from Schmitt, the winners ended up with a 43-32 edge off the glass.

“We put in a new offense this year and we’re still getting used to it,” Martinik said.  “We looked for the open girl and ended up making the shot we should make. I was very encouraged seeing how hard we fought tonight. Our team defense was super.”

She added, “This was the first time (point guard) Janea Graham had started a varsity game. I thought she was very composed, gave a great effort, and played a great floor game.”

Graham finished with seven points.

While Osmond was expected to be a team leader for Sacred Heart, she is still coming back from a summer concussion and a pre-season ankle injury, scoring only six points. Montini led the losers with nine points.

AMITY ITEMS: While they did not play together, Martinik and her SHA counterpart, Gail Strumpf-Cheney (who was making her coaching debut) are both Masuk High of Monroe grads. Their Panther coach, Dave Strong was on hand to watch his two former high school stars battle it out from their respective benches.

The 1-0 Lady Spartans visit Guilford Friday night at 7.  

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