Phil-Mont earns first win of the season over Girard College
Over the last several year’s Phil-Mont Christian had established a pretty defined identity. The Falcons dominated with forward play, with three forwards since 2014 hitting the 1,000-career point mark.
All those players, the Goodman sisters, Jana and Tracey and Keyen Green are no longer on the team and playing college basketball.
This season the Falcons entered the season with only three seniors on their roster with only two players; senior captain Lauren Tipton and junior guard Jael Jackson having logged significant varsity minutes prior to this year.
“I think the big challenge is for players to begin to learn new roles that they have to play,” Phil-Mont first year head coach Roger Jackson said. “Lauren has been a starter her whole time here and Jael has been a starter her whole time here. They both made all-league last year but they both had different roles when we had Keyen Green and Tracy Goodman. We’re going to be as good as they learn their new roles and embrace their new roles as the leaders.”
Phil-Mont came into Monday’s game with Girard College searching for its first win of the season after dropping its first to contest. The Falcons played a defensive gem as they took down the Cavaliers 38-3.
Offensively Ariana Price and Jackson lead the way for Phil-Mont as they combined 24 points with both players scoring in double figures.
The Falcons pressured the Girard offense by suffocating the ball handler and cutting off the passing lanes. Phil-Mont led 18-3 after the first quarter and preceded to shutout the Cavs for the rest of the contest.
“A lot of it was defensive pressure and aggression,” Jackson said as to why the score was so lopsided. “The challenge is always you got to train the kids to play the way you want them to play and they can’t change based on how good or not good the other team is. I think what you saw was a lot of defensive pressure even though we weren’t pressing persay, we were making sure the ball was always covered and meeting the pass.”
It’s difficult to tell what the identity of Phil-Mont will particularly offensively just judging by Monday’s result but defensively it’s obvious that the Falcons will get after it.
“I thought it was a good effort,” Jackson said. “We had two tough first games, we needed to get a win and I thought they came out with that intensity and purpose of getting a win.”
Phil-Mont Christian 18 4 10 6—38
Girard College 3 0 0 0—3
Phil-Mont: Lauren Tipton 1 0-2 2; Jael Jackson 4 2-3 11; Ariana Price 6 1-3 13; Julia Johnson 1 2-2 4; Rebekah Johnson 1 2-2 4; Zaria Priestly 1 0-2 2; Savannah Rennix 0 2-2 2; Johanna Shaw 0 0-1 0; totals 15 7-15 38
Girard: Sloane Roberts 0 0-0 0; Siani Clark-Hartley 0 1-2 1; Kanaayah Hawkins 0 0-0 0; Danasia Rowley 0 0-0 0; Kenajah Johnson 1 0-0 2; totals 1 1-2 3
three-point goals: J. Jackson
