Sports
Irvington Starts Fast, Beats Pearl River Girls Basketball
The Bulldogs beat the Pirates, 65-49, Wednesday at Irvington.
Pearl River’s Amanda DeCourcey hit a three-pointer on the first possession of Wednesday's game Irvington, but the Pirates lead was short-lived.
Irvington scored 11 straight points and the Bulldogs hardly looked back en route to a 65-49 victory over the Pirates.
During the 11-0 run, four different players scored for the Bulldogs (10-1), who finished the game with three players — Lexi Martins, Brittni Lai and Alyssa DiCampli — scoring in double figures. Irvington Head Coach Gina Maher said the key to her teams’ offense Wednesday was spreading the ball around and getting everyone involved.
“We were patient on offense,” Maher said. “They were double teaming Lexi down low, so Alyssa stepped up and did some stuff. It’s just getting everybody on the team involved. That’s what works best for us, spreading our offense a little bit.”
That created room inside for Martins, who scored 34 points and pulled down 17 rebounds despite double and triple-teams by the Pirates (8-2).
“My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball in our offensive sets and on certain plays I was able to capitalize and score, and other plays when there was two or three girls on me, there was always a teammate open to kick to for an open shot,” Martins said. “I think really it worked both ways.”
Martins did a bulk of her damage down low, muscling her way into the paint and backing down any Pirate that tried to guard her. She also took 17 free throws, hitting 11. Four times she was fouled as she hit a shot, and she converted all four into 3-point plays.
“It’s definitely in my mind whenever we’re playing in these games that contact will be coming during these lay-ups and just to brace myself and get ready for the contact or to initiate the contact if I have to,” Martins said. “If there are girls around, if you initiate the contact on your own and go up you have a chance of making the and-one.”
Maher singled out one play by Martins during the fourth quarter to display why the Lehigh University recruit played so well Wednesday. With the game just a few minutes from ending and Pearl River out of reach, Martins stood at the top of the key while he teammate took a shot. The shot missed, Martins raced in, grabbed the rebound, hit the shot and drew a foul. Maher said given the situation and her position on the court, it would’ve been easy for Martins to simply stand and watch the shot.
“It’s just being a presence all over,” Maher said.
Martins’ 34 was followed up by 13 from Lai and 10 from DiCampli.
For the Pirates, DeCourcey led the way with 12. She was the only player from Pearl River with more than 10 points. Sam Alicandri and Missy Scognamiglio both scored nine each.
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Three-time defending state champion Irvington entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state in Class B. Pearl River is No. 20 in Class A.
Pearl River Head Coach Lorraine Moylan said part of the reason she wanted her team to face Irvington is so they could get experience against one of the top local teams.
“They’re a great team and you want to play the best,” she said. “If you want to get good you’ve got to play the best and they’re one of the best in Section 1. It’s good for us.”
