Norristown’s defense blunts Plymouth Whitemarsh

WEST NORRITON >> Plymouth Whitemarsh girls head basketball coach Dan Dougherty had no complaints, offered no excuses.

His Colonials had just been beaten, 36-21, in a mild shocker Thursday night at Norristown High, and the coach had nothing but admiration for the winners.

“They’re just a really good defensive team,” said Dougherty, after the Eagles led from wire to wire, and actually pulled away in the fourth quarter. “Their athleticism definitely frustrated us.”

The Colonials, who came into the contest comfortably ensconced in second place in the Suburban One League’s American Conference, had the look of a team that just couldn’t match up all evening, as Norristown beat them on the boards, beat them to most of the loose balls and blunted their offense, in particular, Colonials top scorer Taylor O’Brien.

“Our defense was phenomenal,” said Eagles head coach Vince Catanzaro, “especially on O’Brien.

“The key to the game was stopping O’Brien, and forcing their other kids to do more.”

From the outset, the Eagles’ zone backed in and smothered O’Brien, forcing the Colonials to be more aggressive with their outside-shot selection.

The plan worked to perfection as O’Brien was held scoreless in the first quarter while the Eagles raced to a lead they’d never lose.

While Norristown shackled O’Brien, the Eagles offense, led by Patti and Lauren Fortescue, and run to near perfection by diminutive sophomore guard Beyonce Collins, went to work, getting timely threes by Collins and Precious Milam and consistently getting second and third shots.

“Their rebounding really hurt us,” Dougherty said. “They crushed us off the boards.”

O’Brien finally got untracked in the second period, scoring six points as the Colonials pulled to within five points.

But the run would not last, as key buckets by Patti Fortescue and Milam, and a clutch three by Collins restored the home team’s lead.

“Our seniors did a great job,” Collins said. “When we work together and work hard, good things happen.”

PW opened the third quarter by, again, making some offensive inroads. But each thrust was successfully parried by the Eagles, who would not relinquish their lead.

The Colonials just could not make headway, and their cause was not aided when O’Brien went down in a heap with Patti Fortescue while the pair fought for a rebound, and cracked her head on the floor.

O’Brien continued, but soon after was removed from the game with tears in her eyes.

Meanwhile, the Eagles took turns coming up big in the face of any Colonials comeback try.

“I can’t say enough about the way our girls played,” Catanzaro said. “If it wasn’t Taijah James coming up with one big rebound after another, it was Precious hitting those big threes in the second half.”

To add salt to the wound, the Eagles held the Colonials to a single point in the fourth quarter.

“We’re not there yet,” Catanaro said, “but this team is playing real well right now. And I’m really going to miss them.”
DRABS AND DRIBBLES >> Taijah James had a mammoth game inside, snatching 10 rebounds and making life difficult for any Colonials player taking the ball to the basket. As it was Senior Night, James also contributed a boffo National Anthem before the game. … PW center Lauren Coscia was also a force in the paint, collecting nine rebounds while blocking three shots.