Mount St. Joseph’s defense locks down Ridley in Lady Warrior Classic opener
WORCESTER >> The outcome wasn’t in doubt very long when Mount St. Joseph Academy faced Ridley in the first game of the 10th Annual Methacton Lady Warrior Classic Friday night at Methacton High School.
The Magic scored the first 18 points of the game and maintained a comfortable advantage all the way through a 51-27 win.
Both teams will return to Methacton Saturday. MSJ will play for the tournament championship while Ridley plays for third place.
It was the Mount’s defense that allowed them to build the lead. It forced six turnovers in the first quarter and didn’t allow the Green Raiders to score their first point until there was 5:30 left in the second quarter.
“We’ve been working a lot on our defense, especially our transition defense,” first-year Mount coach Jim Roynan said. “I want the girls to be aggressive and play up in the passing lanes and pressure the ball. They were able to do that in the first quarter. We were able to set the tempo for the game. It was good to see them come out and play well that first quarter.”
“I don’t know if it was first-game jitters,” Ridley coach Bryant McCombs said of the offense, “that could have been it. A lot of times last year we did have our issues of digging ourselves into a hole and then scrapping back out again. I think a lot of it was first-game jitters. That was a great team — no ifs or buts about that I’m not taking anything away from them — but it probably got into our heads and from there made everything flow downhill.”
The 16-0 lead after the first quarter became a 23-6 halftime advantage and a 37-20 lead after three quarters.
Freshman Grace Niekelski led the Magic in scoring with 13 points. Grace DiGiovani added eight points and Lauren Cunningham and Deidre Regan each had seven.
Niekelski, along with sophomore guard Lauren Vessey, both give the Mount plenty of reasons for optimism going forward. Vessey finished with four points and six assists. Niekelski added four assist.
“They’re very mature as basketball players for their age,” Roynan said. “You can see Lauren take charge of the game. She really knows the game. She has a good basketball IQ. Grace is just a skilled player. You saw some of the passes she made. She’s a good scorer, she’s a good player but she’s unselfish and that really helps us as well.”
Dana D’Ambrosia led Ridley in scoring with 10 points. Paige Gabriele added seven.
The Green Radiers responded after a slow first quarter. They scored six points in the second — compared to the Mount’s seven — and played to an even 14-14 tie in the third.
Ridley’s defense forced 21 turnovers in the game.
“That’s probably the bread and butter of our team – having a strong defense, a good pressure defense,” McCombs said. “(Twenty-one turnovers is) very good. The key with that is is how you convert. If you can convert off of those 21 turnovers, then you’re definitely bringing yourself to another level to be able to bring the game to them.”
