MENTONE — Plymouth’s Lady Pilgrims continue to keep the arrow pointing up with a masterful performance at Tippecanoe Valley taking a 71-61 win.
Plymouth weathered the adversity of having two key parts on the bench for much of the game in foul trouble. Emma Cook picked up three in the first four minutes of the game and Taylor Delp picked up her third early in the second quarter. That just led to new names doing the most with their minutes.
“I thought the minutes that Kaylee (Dragani) gave us, the confidence with her shot kept us going on the offensive end,” said Duncan. “Kenzie (Dejarnatt) came in and played well, Madie (Mann) had some great minutes. It was a great team effort with everybody coming in and doing their job today.”
“They all gave us quality time on both ends of the floor,” said Duncan. “There was hustle all the time. Early on the game plan was not to lose shooters and we did early but we adjusted and did a pretty good job as the game kept going on.”
Much of that adjustment was caused by Valley’s Sidney Wagner who carried her team for the first half ending the night with 26 points and nine rebounds.
“Sidney Wagner can play we had a hard time locating her and keeping her in front of us and doing the little things on the defensive end,” said Duncan.
Dragani hit back to back deep three’s on consecutive trips down the floor and put up nine in the second quarter when the Lady Pilgrims were able to stretch their lead. She also had five rebounds out of the guard’s position and four assists.
“We had a lot of kids that really shared the ball today and shot with a lot of confidence,” said Duncan. “I thought we were a lot more aggressive on the offensive end.”
Tallulah Gault came away with a huge double/double on the night with 25 points and 17 rebounds. Delp was able to stay on the floor long enough to have a huge impact in the fourth quarter and pick up a second straight double/double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Gault and Delp led a Plymouth team that had 52 rebounds on the night. Valley had 18.
“Tallulah is our shooter and she knows that and she’s shooting with a lot of confidence,” said Duncan. “Taylor is still dominating inside doing what she needs to do. Our roles are starting to get more solidified as we keep going on.”
Lindsay Janus returned to the floor none the worse for her COVID forced time off hitting 18 points and running the floor with six assists and making key plays down the stretch.
“The pressure that we saw at the beginning of the season I think our kids are adjusting to that,” said Duncan. “Late in the game I thought maybe we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be but Lindsay did a fantastic job of breaking down the defense and making great decisions with the basketball late in the game.”
The Lady Pilgrims even their record at 3-3 and open NLC play at Goshen on Saturday night.
•PLYMOUTH 71, T. VALLEY 61
at Tippecanoe Valley
Plymouth 16 36 54 71
T. Valley 16 27 45 61
Plymouth (71) — Cook 0 0-0 0, Janus 6 4-4 18, Delp 7 3-4 17, Mann 0 0-0 0, Dragani 3 1-2 9, Gault 9 1-3 25, Dejarnatt 1 0-0 2, Sheedy 0 2-2 2. Totals 27 11-15 71.
T. Valley (61) — Wagner 9 4-4 26, Ault 1 0-0 3, Holloway 0 1-2 1, Mellott 5 3-4 17, Stiles 3 0-0 6, Butler 1 1-2 4, Snapp 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 9-14 61.
3 Pt. FG — Plymouth 6 (Janus, Dragani, Gault), Valley 10 (Wagner, Mellott 4).
Rebounds — Plymouth 52 (Gault 17), Valley 18 (Wagner 9).
Assists — Plymouth 13 (Janus 6), Valley 5 (Wagner 4).
Steals — Plymouth 6 (Dejarnett 2), Valley 7 (Wagner 4).
Turnovers — Plymouth 13, Valley 7.
Fouls (Fouled out) — Plymouth 16, Valley 13 (Ault).
