J-M girls bounced from playoffs
WEXFORD – It’s not unusual for the Jefferson-Morgan girls’ basketball team to go deep into its bench and play as many as 10 players in each game.
It isn’t normal for head coach Chris Niemiec to have to do so in the first quarter.
Looking for an offensive spark early in the Rockets’ WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game against Sewickly Academy, Niemiec did just that. The results, however, were not what he would have liked.
Theresa Wilson scored seven of the game’s first 10 points for Sewickley Academy, which used a 10-0 start to the game as a springboard to a 43-29 win over the Rockets Saturday at North Allegheny High School.
“They jumped out on us and it made us alter our defensive plan from there,” Niemiec said about the lethargic start that put Jefferson-Morgan in a 14-7 hole after the first quarter.
“We started pressing right off the bat on offense.”
The result was a season-ending loss that left the Rockets at 10-12.
Stagnant offensive positions for J-M mostly culminated with a turnover or an unlikely three-point shot, a strategy that helped Sewickly Academy (11-12) build a 26-10 halftime lead.
Jefferson-Morgan’s lone points in the second quarter came on a buzzer-beating three-pointer at that half.
Niemiec went into the locker room looking to solve several problems, including an unexpected half-court trap implemented by Sewickley that caused headaches for the J-M guards.
“We didn’t see any kind of press on tape,” Niemiec admitted. “The pressure they put on our guards got us out of rhythm and we couldn’t ever find it.”
The Rockets trailed 31-16 entering the fourth quarter, playing solid defense and holding SA to five points in the period. But they continued to find any footing on offense themselves until senior Anna Mattish hit two three-pointers to trim the lead to 31-22 with 6:52 remaining.
It would be the closest J-M would come as Sewickley’s Kendall Lightcap scored seven of her 10 points in the final quarter to seal the victory.
The biggest advantage for on the boards, as Sewickley limited Jeff-Morgan’s second-chance opportunities and created several of its own. Lightcap and Oliva Ryder each recorded nine rebounds.
Wilson and Ryder both finished with 11 points.
Mattish finished with nine points, while Erin Confortini, another senior, had eight for the Rockets.
“You expend extra energy on defense just to try and get back in the game, and then your legs aren’t there for your shots later,” Niemiec said. “We normally go about 10 deep in a game because we have more specialty players that do certain things well.
“When I walk in here next year there is going to be a lot of them looking at each other as to who the next leaders are. It should be interesting.”