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Johnston jolts WHS lady cagers |
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Wednesday, 12 December 2007 |
By STEVE MAZZONE Call sports writer JOHNSTON â€" Woonsocket High coach George Coderre felt he was at a loss for words when describing his squad's Division II season-opener with Johnston.
Turns out Coderre's post-game comments couldn't have been closer to the truth when describing his Villa Novans' disappointing 37-30 loss to the Panthers Wednesday night.
"I'd like to blame it on the fact that were young, but you can't use that as an excuse," he said. "Our execution was struggling. We weren't hitting our shots. We weren't executing at all. We were in a panic mode."
That about explains what happened at the visitor's home court. Primarily scoring a good portion of their buckets from close proximity to the basket, Woonsocket was able to take a four-point lead into halftime. But led by a dominating effort from Alysa O'Neil, Johnston responded with a more aggressive defensive game in the latter half, fueled by its strong inside presence. The result: The Villa Novans were held to just four field goals in the second half.
The final 10 minutes were the most telling tale. Holding a two-point edge at 26-24, Woonsocket could muster just one basket the remainder of the way when Delena Charette hit a short jumper off the glass with just 33.4 ticks left.
"The second half we just didn't adjust," Coderre said. "They made some adjustments and we didn't. I give them a lot of credit."
O'Neil, who finished with a game-high 18 points, caused the biggest headaches for the Villa Novans. She scored just six points in the opening half, but came to life when the Panthers needed her most. With the Villa Novans leading 19-15 at halftime, JHS senior Kara Manion began the second half by popping in a 3-pointer just 50 seconds after the break. O'Neil then went to work by scoring eight of the Panthers next 10 points, her last coming on a strong move to the hoop to give Johnston the lead for good at 28-26.
Although both teams had their trouble from the outside, it was Woonsocket that suffered the most with a number of shots that just would fall in, most of which occurred in the second half. It was partly due to some bad luck, but mainly to the Johnston's aggressive 'D'.
The Panthers main objective was to stop the talented sophomore tandem of Brooke Coderre and Lauren Masse. They were successful in that attempt as Coderre managed just six points (two in the second half) and Masse netted eight.
"We played a lot better on the block," said Johnston coach Dan Mazzulla, who is in his 20th year on the sideline. "I don't think there was good shooting by any team. We just blocked and made sure we stopped Brooke from penetrating and No. 45 (Masse). Those two kids penetrate to the basket very well."
"O'Neil came and played a much better second half," he added. "Defensively, she rebounded the ball better. Fortunately, a lot of their shots weren't falling either. We were able to block the middle to some degree and stop any penetrating."
Woonsocket certainly started off well. The Panthers opened up the scoring with a 4-0 lead, but the Villa Novans were able to keep them scoreless for nearly six minutes with eight unanswered points, including six from freshman Ashley Dubois. Unfortunately that would be all the offense from the 5-foot-9 center.
Woonsocket eventually built its advantage to 17-9 with four minutes remaining in the half. Johnston was able to cut that deficit to four by the half with a 6-0 run.
"In the first half, we had something going," George Coderre said. "We had a little rhythm going. We made a few mistakes defensively that I think really turned the game around. We allowed them to get to the basket off our mistakes and they gained confidence and momentum. Instead of maybe a 10-point lead at the half, we had a four point lead."
Johnston then went to work in the second half to remain unbeaten this season at 3-0. Woonsocket, which defeated Cumberland in its season opener last week, will be hoping to re-group when it plays host to Mount St. Charles on Friday night.
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WOONSOCKET (30) â€" Ashley Dubois 3 0-2 6, Nicole Boucher 2 0-0 4, Delena Charette 1 1-2 3, Brooke Coderre 3 0-0 6, Lauren Masse 4 0-1 8, Kafo Olowookere 1 0-0 2, Tiara Bottachiari 0 1-2 1. Totals â€" 14 2-7 30
JOHNSTON (37) â€" Jaime Cardillo 1 0-0 2, Samantha Maner 1 0-0 2, Gianna Mazzulla 1 1-2 3, Alysa O'Neil 7 4-5 18, Kaitlyn Manion 2 3-6 7, Kara Manion 1 0-0 3, Alaiana Denancour 1 0-0 2. Totals â€" 14 8-13 37.
Halftime â€" W, 19-15. 3-point goals â€" Johnston (1) â€" Kara Manion.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 December 2007 )
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