PLYMOUTH – Last night the Lady Pilgrims of Plymouth hosted undefeated Chesterton but couldn’t hold off the Lady Trojans falling by a 60-40 final.
Plymouth was trying to go 2-1 against the Duneland Conference opponents having a win against Michigan City and a close loss to Valparaiso already this year.
In the first quarter Chesterton came out of the gate early to draw first blood and lead five to nothing. Alli Andrews attempted to close in on the lead early from beyond the arc but struggled to get the basketball to fall through the net. The Lady Pilgrims finally got on the board with a three pointer by Halle Reichard.
Plymouth fought hard to push the ball into the paint to Cassidy Holiday. Holiday was in the starting rotation as Kacee Peters was sidelined with a non-basketball related injury. Holiday would get many looks inside and they payed off with her netting six points for the Lady Pilgrims.
The first quarter of play was led by Chesterton’s ball movement and the fact they were able to keep Plymouth on the ropes early with turn overs.
The 6’3” Haley Vail led all scoring and many of her points came in the first quarter where after the buzzer the Lady Trojans led 18 to 10.
Plymouth would fight back hard in the second quarter. Halle Reichard began to light up from beyond the arc and had four three pointers contributing to the largest scoring quarter of the night for the Lady Pilgrims. After the halftime buzzer Plymouth battled back within four at 29-25.
“We just have to get better at preventing runs,” said Plymouth coach Dave Duncan. “We can be within three or four points and a few plays later be down by ten or eleven.”
That very thing happened coming out of the halftime break when Plymouth allowed Chesterton to gain an eleven-point advantage mid-third quarter. Plymouth went on a scoring run themselves to wind out the third quarter of play against the Lady Trojans battling back to be down by six after three.
In the fourth quarter Chesterton began to show the reason they were undefeated. Forcing turnovers Plymouth and forcing the Pilgrims into a situation with three minutes remaining where they were forced to foul.
At the end of the game Plymouth had two players with four fouls and another two with three from their attempt to finish out with a chance for the win. However, it was Chesterton’s night to roll onto their ninth win in a row taking the twenty-point win.
Duncan was far from disappointed from his teams play, and happy with the tenacity they brought to the floor out rebounding Chesterton and in his mind hustling to create turnovers
“What a game to give our girls motivation and determination going into the game Saturday against Warsaw,” said Duncan.
This Saturday night Plymouth (5-5) meets Warsaw in an NLC event. The Lady Pilgrims are 1-0 in NLC play with a win over Goshen. Warsaw will come to play with a record of 6-2. This will be the first game for the Lady Tigers in conference play for the season.
•CHESTERTON 60, PLYMOUTH 40
At Plymouth
Plymouth 10 25 34 40
Chesterton 18 29 40 60
