Streaking Pottsgrove handles Pottstown for 5th straight win

POTTSGROVE >> Though it took a little longer than it would have liked, the Pottsgrove girls basketball team seems to have found its stride late in the 2021 season.

After a 1-6 start to the year, the Falcons extended their winning streak to five games with an 88-40 win over rival Pottstown in Saturday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division game.

Justine Fretz led Pottsgrove (6-6, 5-3 PAC Frontier) with 18 points, Sydney Mowery followed with 15 and Rachel Ludwig and Riley Simon both chipped in 13. Calista Daye’s 18 points led Pottstown (3-10, 3-5 PAC Frontier) while Trinell Watson scored 13.

“I think just having more time together and kind of getting to play with each other more and working harder at practice,” Fretz said in identifying what sparked the Falcons’ turnaround. “Becoming more patient and disciplined on our offense, executing our plays and working hard on defense is starting to pay off. It’s kind of pushing us to get through the end of the season and get through to districts if we can.”

Along with having four players reach double figures, 11 Falcons scored in Saturday’s win. Emily Krause added eight and Jessica Carroll seven.

Fretz scored 16 of her points, including four threes, in the first half Saturday to help the Falcons to a 49-17 lead by the break. She said one of the team’s strengths has been a different player rising to the occasion every game.

The Falcons don’t have any player averaging double figures as Simon leads the team at 7.6 points per game and Sierra Potts averages 7.5 points per game with four others averaging five or more points per game.

“We all hype each other up,” Fretz said. “We really encourage each other. Sierra (Potts) had a good night the other night when she had 15. I think really it’s just supporting each other when we’re hot. It keeps everyone going.”

Pottsgrove won its first District 1 playoff game in almost 15 years last season when the Falcons opened the District 1-5A tournament with a 31-26 victory over Upper Moreland.

The senior-laden group would like a chance to build on last year’s experience, but Pottsgrove has some work left to do as it finishes its season.

Saturday’s win bumped the Falcons to No. 11 in the District 1-5A power rankings — one spot out of this year’s 10-team tournament.

A PAC crossover win over Owen J. Roberts on Monday would help sure up Pottsgrove’s playoff hopes. The Falcons finish their PAC schedule Wednesday against Pottstown and have added non-league games against Conrad Weiser and Oley Valley in which they hope to continue their late season push.

“With so many seniors that we have, we’ve been playing together since third grade,” Fretz said. “We’ve really become a family and are just supporting each other and looking to make one last run where we can get a title, progress into districts and maybe states. It’s really exciting.”

Trojans Trending Up

Though Saturday’s result wasn’t its finest of the season, Pottstown has had a lot to be excited about in 2021.

The Trojans’ three PAC wins are the most since 2017-18 after posting two league wins in both of the past two seasons.

They have a rematch against the Falcons next Wednesday and a division game against Upper Merion next Friday to try and make it four PAC wins, which would be the most for a Pottstown team since posting a 5-8 mark in 2011-12.

“Before today, I thought we were really coming together,” Pottstown third-year coach Madison Morton said. “I thought the girls were really starting to understand defensively what we were trying to accomplish. I thought offensively we were moving the ball pretty good. Today, credit to Pottsgrove. They came to play.”

Watson (13.9 ppg) and Daye (11.7 ppg) have both taken leaps in their games as juniors to help elevate the Trojans throughout most of this season.

Entering Saturday, Watson ranked sixth and Daye ranked 10th among the PAC’s girls scoring leaders.

“We’ve had some maturity in our juniors,” Morton said. “Calista Daye’s emergence as an offensive threat has really helped her this year. Trinell has gained some things that she didn’t have last year. She has a pull-up jumper. She’s always had a nice baseline drive, but now she’s adding that baseline drive with a spin and a pull-up.”

Junior Jo’Laila Lamarre, senior Kaylin Jarrett, sophomore Tamya Jarrett and freshman Regina Flemming were other scorers for Pottstown on Saturday.

Kaylin Jarrett is the lone senior on the Trojans’ roster. Morton believes the future is bright if promising young players like Tamya Jarrett and freshman Mikyla Brandon can build off some of the glimpses they’ve shown this season.

After a rematch of Saturday’s opponents on Wednesday, Pottstown closes out the year on the road at Upper Merion on Friday. The Trojans downed the Vikings 47-28 on Feb. 12.

Pottsgrove 88, Pottstown 40

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