RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Five points.
That’s all the Adams Central girls’ basketball team gave up to the Heritage Patriots in the second half Friday night at the Hangar. The defensive clamp down helped the Jets expand their eight-point halftime lead into a 26-point margin at the end in a 42-16 victory.
With 2:30 to go in the third quarter, the Jet victory was far from certain. After the Jets had built a 12-point lead, Heritage freshman point guard Trinitee Brown hit a tough layup in traffic to pull the Patriots (1-14, 0-3 in the ACAC) within 10 at 26-16. And because of the Jets’ propensity for turning the ball over—they had 10 turnovers in the second quarter alone—the Patriots had reason to hope they could maybe turn a couple of steals into fast break buckets and make a game of it.
But it turned out that Brown had just scored the last Heritage points of the night. The Jets (4-13, 2-4) shut them out for the final ten and a half minutes while scoring 16 points themselves, breaking the game wide open.
Adams Central sophomore Ava Stafford scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the second half, single-handedly more than doubling the Heritage output.
She opened the third quarter with an aggressive drive on the left baseline and went on to score six more points in the quarter. A post-up move by Grace Fisher (assisted nicely by Athena Schwartz) and a three-pointer from the right corner by Kate Fisher completed the Adams Central scoring in the period as the Jets built a 32-16 lead.
A 10-0 Jet shellacking in the fourth quarter put an exclamation point on the victory.
The Jets had started the game with an 11-5 first-quarter advantage but could muster only an 8-6 edge in the second period to lead 19-11 at the half. Fisher led the Jets’ first-half offense with five points. Schwartz and Alexa Brotherton added four each.
Danica Fuller’s eight first-half points kept the Patriots in the game. She hit two of three attempts from beyond the arc.
Neither team took care of the ball very well in the opening half, the Jets committing 13 turnovers, the Pats 12. Adams Central did improve in that area in the second half, turning it over only five times to the nine of Heritage.
The Jets shot well from two-point land (14-of-32 for 44%), not so much from long range (2-of-12 for 17%) or from the free throw line (8-of-20 for 40%). The Patriots had severe shooting troubles: 3-of-22 (14%) on twos, 3-of-17 (18%) on threes, and 1-of-2 (50%) on free throws.
It was Senior Night at the Hangar, and all three Flying Jet seniors made significant contributions to the victory. Grace Fisher finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while classmates Athena Schwartz and Audrey Eisburg each scored four.
Alexa Brotherton had four points. Lillie Dull, Sophia Ward, and Ashlyn Doster added two each.
Fuller led Heritage with eight. Brown scored five, Natalie Otte two, Grace Guenthner one.
First-round action in the ACAC tournament starts Tuesday. The South Adams boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Adams Central. The girls’ game will start at 6:00 P.M., the boys’ game to follow at 7:30.
Heritage will take on Woodlan at Woodlan Tuesday, with the same schedule—girls at 6:00, boys at 7:30.