Stauffer, Polisano step up in 2nd half, lead Germantown Academy over West Catholic

WHITEMARSH >> The Patriots of Germantown Academy were up against it.

Having watched a couple of sizable leads slip away, GA needed some heroics down the stretch Thursday night against West Catholic.

The Patriots got ‘em.

Elle Stauffer scored eight second-half points and Cat Polisano added seven as the Pats slowed pulled away from the Burrs, 68-60, in a non-league tussle at GA.

Stauffer and Jaye Haynes each bucketed 16 points as the home team fought off the late charge from the Burrs, who got 32 points from guard Tamia Robinson.

“It was real scary,” said Patriots head coach Sheri Retif. “They’re the best 6-8 team around.

“We had everybody in foul trouble in the first half.”

Indeed, the Pats had control of the game for most of the way.

Haynes had 11 first-half points to lead GA (16-4, 4-0 Inter-Ac), while Robinson was filling it up for the visitors.

Down at the break, the visiting Burrs (5-8, 2-4 PCL) got 13 points from Robinson in the second half and actually tied the game at 56 with 6:14 left in the fourth quarter.

But Polisano and Stauffer led the charge in the fourth quarter, and soon the Patriots were pulling away.

“We knew they didn’t have the best record,” Stauffer said. “But they’ve beaten some good teams.

“We decided to put on the pressure and see what they could do with it.”

The Patriots’ attempts at pressure only fueled the Burrs’ running game and enabled them to hang around and even tie the game midway through the fourth quarter.

But after a timeout, the Patriots went to work, out-scoring the Burrs down the stretch, 12-4, to pull out the victory.

“Our girls did a good job keeping their composure,” Retif said. “We didn’t let them get in our heads.

“And we finished strong.”

GEREMANTOWN ACADEMY 68, WEST CATHOLIC 60
West Catholic (60) — Tamia Robinson 11 5-8 32; Destiny McPhail 3 5-11 11; Amiyah Holmes 2 2-6 6; Safara McIntyre 0 0-0 0; Daziyhana Wilson 0 0-0 0; Dajia Hosendorf 1 3-5 5; Jaelyn Durrett 0 0-0 0; Beautiful Murray-Bey 0 0-1 0; Kari Saunders 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 15-31 60.
Germantown Academy (68) — Elle Stauffer 8 0-0 16; Cat Polisano 3 2-4 9; Lindsay Pulman 1 0-0 3; Julia Johnson 0 0-1 0; Jaye Haynes 7 2-3 16; Rachel Balzer 4 0-0 11; Sarah Dilene 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 4-7 68.
3-point goals: Robinson 5; Polisano; Pulman; Balzer 3.