Foran tames ice cold Staples

Too many missed shots and rebounding problems cost the Staples girls basketball team on Wednesday. Staples lost 34-31 to Foran (3-3) in the DeSantis Summer League at the Jewish Center for Community Services and dropped to 2-4.

The Summer Lady Wreckers were especially abysmal in the second half where they only scored six points. They victimized themselves by taking poor outside shots and committing inopportune turnovers, some coming off of poor decisions. Foran also scored eight points off the offensive glass.

"We could have won the game if we did better on the boards and took better shots and made them," Staples senior Julie Strickland said.

Senior MaryKate Van Sant said, "My game was off today. We played well yesterday [on Tuesday in 52-36 loss to Ridgefield in the Darien YMCA Summer League] but the team was off today. We were lazy with our shots and didn't follow through. We weren't boxing out and they got [many] second shots."

Senior Nicole Brill said, "We could have done a lot better with rebounding."

The game was close with neither team leading by more than five points. Overall, there were six ties and six lead changes. The Summer Lady Lions' lead peaked at four points, which they had three times, the first one at 4-0.

Sophomore Erica Stein energized the Summer Lady Wreckers while she was in. Stein (three points, two rebounds, one assist, two steals) had two big steals and set up Strickland for a layup to tie it 4-4. Strickland set up Stein for a layup that gave Staples an 8-4 lead.

However, Stein injured her ankle and had to leave the game. Following her exit, the Summer Lady Wreckers struggled. Foran embarked on an 8-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. Sophomore Kelly Quinn's three-point play gave the Summer Lady Lions a 9-8 advantage and senior Ashley Springsteen added a 3-pointer.

Brill (10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, four steals, one blocked shot, two tieups, three forced turnovers) led the Summer Lady Wreckers' offense. She scored six of the team's first 10 points, two on layups and one on a putback, and broke the surge with a layup.

What Staples lacked on offense with 19 turnovers, it compensated on defense by forcing Foran into committing 21 turnovers. Strickland (five points, two rebounds, three assists, three steals, two forced turnovers) laid it in off a steal, drew the foul and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and knot the game at 14-14.

"We have a very quick team and have always been good on defense," said Strickland. "We have a nose for the ball and are able to force turnovers and give our offense a chance to set up."

Sophomore Nikki Bukovsky (six points, five rebounds, one steal, one blocked shot) attacked the basket well and hit a layup from Brill. Bukovsky also did well on the glass.

Springsteen's putback gave Foran a 20-18 lead with 4:30 remaining in the half but the Summer Lady Wreckers closed out the half with a 7-0 spurt and led 25-20 at the break. Van Sant (two points, five rebounds, one steal, two forced turnovers, one blocked shot, one tieup) hit a layup from Strickland and set up junior Remy Nolan's (three points, two rebounds, one assist, two steal, three forced turnovers) trey. Freshman Dayna Gelman (two points, two rebounds, two steals, one forced turnover) sparked the Summer Lady Wreckers off the bench with a steal and putback.

Unlike the recent weather, Staples was ice cold in the second half. Brill, Van Sant and Nolan might as well have joined the bricklayers union because they shot many bricks off of many poor shots. The Summer Lady Wreckers missed many layups. Sophomore Lexi Andros (one rebound, three steals) missed a layup after stealing the ball from midcourt.

Bukovsky scored four points in the second half, one off a putback and the other on a layup from Brill to tie it, 31-31. Brill scored on a putback as well after the break.

After Brill grabbed a defensive rebound, Staples had a chance to win it but fired up three bricks. Quinn was fouled after grabbing the rebound and hit both foul shots with 16.3 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Van Sant overthrew Brill on a poor pass and Foran closed out the game.

"The girls are trying to get back into the flow," Strickland said. People were away at camp and we have to get used to our shots again."