GIRLS BASKETBALL Sharon repulses New Castle for sixth win to stay perfect

The Tigers got off to a great start and led by as many as 26 points before the Hurricanes rallied.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SHARON-- The New Castle High girls basketball team did not score in Tuesday's game against Sharon until 2:37 remaining in the first quarter, when Nesha Hambrick sank a 10-foot jumper.
While the Hurricanes were struggling through this early scoring drought, the Tigers were busy scoring the game's first 15 points.
Then Sharon went on to lead by as many as 26 points before finishing with a 56-49 win to remain unbeaten.
"We came out real strong the last three or four games," Sharon (6-0) coach Mary Jo Staunch said. "We have good team chemistry, but it seems like from the middle of the third quarter on, we seem to get a little panicky and we let teams back into the game.
"We have to keep scoring and tonight we didn't do that," Staunch said. "We have some work to do."
Took out starters: New Castle (5-3) coach Luann Grybowski was anything but a happy camper, as she pulled her starting five from the floor with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period.
"There are some games in which we don't give up 34 points, so I thought the first half was absolutely horrible," Grybowski said. "The first quarter was probably the worst quarter of basketball that any of my coached teams have played."
While the 'Canes were struggling, Sharon's 6-foot senior Julie Bell scored 13 of her game-high 19 points during the first eight minutes.
Bell was joined in doubles by Erin Leyde and Nicole Valentino, each with 14 points.
For New Castle, Hambrick came off the bench to lead the Canes with 11 points.
"We expect that from her and she is capable of doing that every night," said Staunch of Bell. "She has good inside moves and is capable of getting a lot of points off the boards."
'Canes rally: With Sharon leading by 20 points (34-14) at the break, New Castle did anything but throw in the towel as the 'Canes outscored their hosts by a margin of 35-22.
"As horrible as the first half was, the second half was one of the best second halves that I have seen young kids give, and we didn't have a kid to match up with [Bell]," Grybowski said. "I put my quicker team in so we had a hustling group of kids out there to try and get some steals and some quick points.
"We have a bright future, but the thing they have to learn is that you must play all 32 minutes, not just 18 or 20," Grybowski said.
After trailing by as many as 26, the Canes hustled their way back into the game, trailing by only four at 51-47 with one minute left in the game.
Key free throws: But Gina Fragle made the front end of a one-and-one and Erin Leyde made both ends of a technical foul assessed to the New Castle bench, to stretch the lead back to seven.
"Down the stretch the officials did hurt us and I am not going to lie about it," Grybowski said. "I don't mind being outplayed or out-hustled, but I thought the technical call against my assistant was a cheap call.
"He didn't say anything to warrant the call and you don't do that to kids, especially when the game is that close at the end."
As for the New Castle comeback, Staunch gave credit to the Canes' defensive effort.
"They were really playing good pressure defense and we weren't able to handle it," Staunch said.
"We threw a lot of bad passes, we didn't move to the ball and overall, we just stopped doing the good things were did in the first three quarters. We have a lot of work to do."