Photo by david b. hardt
CIARA PEDRONI GOES UP FOR A BASKET IN A RECENT GAME.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, one of the most successful college basketball coaches, once said to his team, “Don’t worry about losing. Think about winning.”
The Fife girls’ basketball team, in non-league play, has found itself thinking just that. With the regular season on the horizon, the Trojans are finally bringing the pieces together and tuning things up.
On Jan. 7, after a six-game skid, (losing the majority of their games in fourth quarter by single digits), the Trojans found the right offensive and defensive chemistry on the floor. In the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lady Trojans made a remarkable comeback, outscoring the Bremerton Knights 23-8, eventually downing the home team 50-46.
The Trojans came out in the first period playing pressure defense forcing the Knights to turn the ball over. This gave way to junior shooting guard Haley Steever getting loose and knocking down a three-pointer from the right elbow. Steever would later add two field goals as the first quarter ended with the Trojans trailing 10-15.
In the second quarter, the Trojans tried to keep in stride with the Knights, but toiled with missed passes, dropped balls and converted only 3 for 13 from the charity line. The Trojans trailed at the half, 22-15.
Fife coach Mark Jones identified the problems in the first half.
“The next half we just have got to put the ball in the hole. We are missing a lot of shots, and we missed a ton of free throws. They [Knights] are getting most of their scores off of garbage points in the middle. We need to tighten up our interior defense and just keep them off the boards.”
Late in third quarter, the Trojans started to gain momentum and took care of the ball, making good percentage shots. With 3:45 remaining, junior shooting guard Emily Dale drained a three-pointer. Later with 1:45 left, senior forward Sydney Behrendt added two clutch offensive put-backs sparking the completion of a 7-3 run. The period would end with the Trojans closing the gap 36-27.
The Trojans found a break when the Knights’ star guard Angelique White fouled out. With the Knights’ offense fractured, the Trojans made their move and began causing turnovers. With 3:39 left in final period, 6-1 sophomore Ciara Pedroni, who finished the game with 11 points, stepped up, grabbing rebounds and scoring big, going four-of-five from the field. Dale would come up big contributing four points to add to the drive late in the game. With 22 seconds on the clock, the Knights would foul point guard Ashley Coley. Disregarding the rowdy home crowd, Coley clinched the win with two free throws.
“In the last couple minutes we just tried not to foul. At the end, we knew we were up and we just wanted to work the ball on offense and definitely not turn the ball over,” Dale said. “What we learned in this game is to always keep your head in the game, and don’t think too much.”
“The plan at the end was to post up on offense and on defense don’t foul,” Pedroni said. “The game-changer came when we all started getting our heads in the game and putting more pressure on the ball.”
“In the last part of the game we just want to stay tough and be in control. We focused on executing the offense and limiting any turnovers,” Steever said. “As the game went on the post seemed to just get bigger; we relaxed and found good openings.”
On Jan. 12, the girls defeated Eatonville, 63-44.
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