St. Joseph defeats Lady Wreckers

The Staples girls basketball team opened the Notre Dame of Fairfield Christmas Tournament with a 46-35 loss to St. Joseph. Coach Ed Huydic said, "The problem for us was our inability to convert inside. They wisely played in an extended zone defense to take our perimeter guards out of the game and utilize some height on the inside to deny us the opportunities that we did have."

St. Joseph raised its record to 4-1. Staples dropped to 4-2.

In the first quarter, senior captain Suvi Puritpatarrapan (15 points, four rebounds, one assist, three steals) and sophomore Jess Coelho (nine points, 12 rebounds, two assists) took control for the Lady Wreckers on the offensive end, each contributing five points. Puritpatarrapan added a three and an outside jumper, as Coelho put in two lay-ups, one of which resulted in a three point play. However on the other end of the court, St. Joe's senior captain Michelle Gorman (22 points, eight rebounds) dominated inside, contributing six points in the quarter to give the Lady Cadets an 11-10 lead.

Junior MaryKate Van Sant (five points, four rebounds, two steals), a former St. Joe's player and current Lady Wrecker, lit it up from outside in the second quarter, hitting a big 3-pointer along with a corner jumper.

Going into the half, Staples trailed, 25-22. The Lady Wreckers came out hard on defense, and denied Gorman in the post where she only scored one basket. Huydic said, "The third quarter was all about defense. We played in man to man and limited them to seven shots from the floor, and only four points."

Puritpatarrapan knocked down a three and swished four free throws. The Lady Wreckers created many opportunities to score in the third quarter but for the most part were unable to capitalize. Staples was 1-10 from outside and missed four lay-ups. The Lady Wreckers did well from the foul line, sinking five out of six shots. Huydic said, "We could have made a mighty move in the third, but we did not perform well on offense all night long. Despite the fact that we had twice the number of shots as them we only outscored them 10-4. We could have had a much better quarter in terms of production."

Although Staples did not convert on offense, it was still able to gain a 32-29 lead over St. Joe's after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, things fell apart for Staples. The defensive intensity that attributed to the team's third quarter run was no longer there, and Gorman took advantage of that, scoring nine in the final quarter. Offensively, Staples could not hit a shot. The Lady Wreckers went 0-7 from three point land, and missed seven lay-ups, giving Staples a total of three points the entire quarter.

"Honestly, at the four minute mark of the fourth quarter I thought we had just ran out of gas. We had expended so much energy defensively and on the boards against a much taller team. Having our depth compromised hurt. I must say we were truly just tired at that point. Tiredness had to be the culprit there," says Huydic.

Staples played Barlow last night in the consolation game after press time and will host Westhill next Tuesday.