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Northport undefeated, first in League II
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| | | Head coach Rich Castellano reviews second-half strategy with his powerful Tigers. Photo by J. Westermann (click for larger version) | |
February 03, 2010 | 04:08 PM
The Northport Tigers girls basketball team used a balanced attack and relentless defense to dismantle the outgunned Connetquot Thunderbirds 77-33 on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Senior point guard Grace Schilling made five first-half steals to spark the Tigers to a commanding 36-18 lead. Schilling, who leads the Tigers in scoring this year, netted nine points and dished nine assists while freshman forward Allie Clarke led the offensive onslaught against Connetquot with 13 points. With the win the Tigers moved to 9-0 in League II play and 12-1 overall.
"We don't care about individual stats," said Schilling. "We're all about team. I just think we're at the part of the season where everything is clicking."
One thing that really clicks is the Northport passing. Schilling is terrific at getting the ball to her teammates at the right time and place. And everybody else is very good at it. They fire the ball at each other and they catch it on the move. They finish fast breaks and make it look easy. Junior guard Chrystal Pope threw gorgeous home run passes for easy baskets as did senior guard Vanessa Palmeri.
"I just try to keep the team going when I come in," Pope said. "I try to be aggressive, to be a leader."
Pope added nine points while junior guard Kellie Cortina, junior forward Stephanie Leon, and junior guard Megan Marinelli each scored seven points. Sophomore Kristin Cleary and Palmeri added six points each. Junior Erin O'Brien (4), senior Cassie Dragone, (4), sophomore Annie Dodge (3) and junior Corinne Tiburzi (2) all contributed points off the Northport bench.
The Tigers have size and play defense and they dominated the smaller Thunderbirds under the basket. Clarke (10 rebounds), Leon (11 rebounds), Cortina and Cleary all blocked shots.
"We're still getting better," said head coach Rich Castellano. "We play a team game — anybody who watches us can see that. I give a lot of credit to Connetquot. They're young, without much size, and they kept coming at us with their press. Our girls are just at a level where they are strong enough to handle that."
"We still have Walt Whitman to play in the regular season, and so many other good teams are out there, but we're really looking forward to the playoffs," Schilling said. Northport will host Whitman on Feb. 5 at 6:15 pm.
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