Mount Saint Joseph goes offense to defense, downs Methacton
SPRINGFIELD >> As Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Methacton walked off the floor at halftime Tuesday, neither was particularly elated about its respective defensive efforts.
The host Magic had all but shot the lights out in the first half and sported a six-point lead, but if they were going to win, they couldn’t let the visiting Warriors keep getting what they wanted. Methacton’s not a finished product yet, but MSJA knew the Warriors were good enough to pick them off if they didn’t put the same effort they’d had on offense into their defense.
The Mount mixed a hot first half on offense with a rigid second half defensively to pick up a 60-46 win coming out of a rugged stretch to open the season.
“Once the second half started, we realized we had a lead and didn’t have to focus on our offense as much,” Mount senior Lauren Hoffman said. “We needed to keep together on offense, but put more energy into our defense. We packed the paint, helped a lot and I think we were smart on the offensive end.”
Hoffman keyed the Mount’s (3-3) blitz offensively, the senior guard leading all scorers with 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers and tallying up 18 of her points by halftime. As a team, the Magic moved the ball and kept finding the open shooter with the team connecting on 6-of-9 from long range in the first half and splitting their 36 points evenly between the first and second quarter.
With four seniors in the lineup including Hoffman, Chloe McGrorty, Kiersten Pumilia and Georgia Pickett, it’s the sort of offense Mount Saint Joseph Academy should be playing. Coach Matt Feeney had to laugh when the movement – both on and off the ball – came up postgame.
“Go tell them that. We’ve been talking about it all year,” Feeney said. “We are a difficult team to play against when we’re moving the ball by passing it. When we dribble, dribble, dribble, we’re easy to guard. We talk about it every day in practice, ‘move the ball and move yourself,’ and I think they did that very well.”
Methacton (2-2) is still putting things together, which is to be expected after graduating the program’s all-time leading scorer in Nicole Timko, plus sharpshooter Tori Bockrath from last year’s state playoff team. The Warriors still have two cornerstones in senior guard Cassidy Kropp and senior forward Mairi Smith, who committed to Williams College over the weekend, while they’re looking for some of last year’s reserve players to settle into expanded roles.
Kropp finished with 11 points, but just two on a layup in the final seconds after halftime as the Mount keyed in on her and Smith, who seemingly had the entire Magic defense collapse on her at every touch. Methacton coach Craig Kaminski knew there would be some growing pains, but he knows the best way to learn is to experience it .
“We have to take little things and build off that, we battled back nicely but we can’t give up 36 points to any team in the first half,” Kaminski said. “Offensively, we stalled a bit but we are a team that is learning to get better. We put a lot on Cassidy, a lot on Mairi and the other three that are on the floor, we’re trying to get them that in-game experience.”
While the Warriors couldn’t slow Hoffman, who had a personal 7-0 run to open the game, in the first half, Kropp’s ability to get into the paint and will in shots helped keep Methacton in the game. Smith had nine points and 10 rebounds in a lot of traffic but the Warriors are looking for third and fourth options, plus more.
Tuesday, they got that from Abby Arnold who led the team in scoring with 20 points, adding six rebounds and some competitive fire.
“Her best offensive game for us so far and we need her,” Kaminski said. “In all four games so far, they’re putting their best player on Cass, three or four dropping on Mairi and asking someone else to beat them. We’re hoping Abby, Reana (Torres), Abby Fisher and some off the bench players can help relieve that pressure.”
Mount Saint Joseph’s schedule has not been easy so far. The Magic opened in Souderton’s Jim Church Classic, facing the host team then West Chester Rustin and played Germantown Academy in the Patriots’ winter tip-off tournament on Saturday night before hosting the Warriors, so they’ve seen some top-flight competition early on.
They’ve taken some losses in that stretch, but this team has designs on challenging for the AACA league title and playing that caliber of competition now only helps later on. Having a veteran group that can adapt in-game helps plenty too and once the second half started, MSJA let its defense do a lot of the work.
“I think we’ve gained a lot of confidence from these past couple games,” Hoffman said. “We’ve all played together since last year, most of us since freshman year, so we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We’re just super-excited for each chance to play and I think we’ll continue to get better with each game.”
Pickett scored 10 of her 15 in the second half and combined with Hoffman to score every point of a 10-3 run that broke open a 37-33 game into a 47-36 lead late in the third quarter. The Mount keyed the run by clogging the paint, scraping for the ball and getting out on the run off any miss, turnover or rebound.
Pumilia shadowed Kropp on defense in the second half, with the Magic sending some help anytime the Warriors guard tried to get into the lane, and opened the fourth with a three after McGrorty was able to save a deflected ball under the basket. Six different players scored for the Mount, which wants to carry performances like Tuesday night’s into the heart of the league schedule.
“We should be able to execute like this all the time,” Feeney said. “We’re still looking to work on our shot selection, going good to shot to great shot and a little less dribbling, but we like what we’re doing so far.”
Mount St. Joseph 60, Methacton 46
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH ACADEMY 18 18 11 13 – 60
METHACTON 13 16 9 8 – 46
MSJA: Kiersten Pumilia 3 2-4 9, Lauren Hoffman 8 2-3 22, Chloe McGrorty 2 1-2 6, Emily Birmingham 2 2-2 6, Georgia Pickett 6 2-2 15, Addison Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 9-13 60.
M: Cassidy Kropp 5 1-2 11, Abby Arnold 9 0-0 20, Reana Torres 2 0-0 6, Mairi Smith 3 3-4 9. Totals: 19 4-8 46.
3-pointers; MSJA – Hoffman 4, Pumilia, McGrorty, Pickett; M – Arnold 2, Torres 2.
