Sunday, December 9, 2001
Hickory kept the score close at times, but the Hurricanes prevailed.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE -- The longer they played, the stronger they got and the better basketball they played.
That is how things unfolded for the New Castle High girls team Saturday at the Ne-Ca-Hi Fieldhouse, as the Hurricanes shook off a sluggish start for a 49-34 win over the Hickory Hornets.
"Overall, I was pleased with out effort today, especially in the second half," New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. "We played better defense and hustled much more than we did earlier in the game."
Early action: Hickory (3-2) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead by using screens inside to get some good looks before New Castle (3-2) cut the Hornets' lead to 9-7 at the first turn.
That's when the Hurricanes took away the inside routes to the hoop and out-scored their guests 13-6 to lead 20-15 at the intermission.
"In the first half, they got some easy baskets and we didn't get any offensive rebounds," Grybowski said.
In addition to New Castle taking away the inside, Hickory coach Jeanette Whitehead thought that foul problems for some of her players contributed to the situation.
"We did get some good looks early on, but then we got into foul trouble and that changed the personnel on the floor for us at times," Whitehead said.
"We came up with 24 defensive boards, so we didn't give away a whole lot of second and third chances," Whitehead said. "But when they got multiple shots, it seemed to be at crucial moments and that is what hurt us."
Staying close: During the first five minutes of the third period, the Hornets hung tough and cut their deficit to three points.
The Hurricanes responded with eight unanswered points to take a 35-24 lead to the final period.
"The kids really picked it up during that stretch," Grybowski said. "Nesha [Hambrick] and Ashley [Wise] led the way."
Not ready to run away and hide, the Hornets kept buzzing around in the first few minutes of the final quarter as they cut the New Castle lead to 40-34.
"[We] played hard right down to the end," Whitehead said. "We just came up short, and this being a learning experience, we just want to keep working harder and getting better every game we play."
Down the stretch, the Hurricanes made the most of the opportunities by tallying the game's final nine points at the free throw line.
Production: "In the two games we lost this year, we weren't able to do that, so I tried to stress that fact to them in practice this week," said Grybowski of the foul shots. "We have some goals we want to meet and one of them is to shoot 75 percent as a team. So far, we have been below 50 so today, that was a big plus for us."
Jaleah Robinson led New Castle with 10 points. Hickory's Colleen Gottuso led all scorers with 16 points.