RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Heritage point guard Danica Fuller scorched the nets for 26 points Thursday night to lead the Patriots to a 56-40 win over Canterbury.
It was the first win of the season for Heritage after opening losses to Leo and Garrett. Canterbury fell to 0-4.
Fuller hit only 6-of-19 two-pointers, but she was perfect from beyond the arc (3-3) and from the free throw line (5-5). Her 19 first-half points staked the Patriots to a 31-15 lead.
“This one feels good,” said Heritage coach Nicole Sisson of the win. She praised Fuller, a senior, for all she does for her team.
“She sets the tone,” said the coach. “She’s everywhere and a great leader. You can just depend on her to do a little bit of everything.”
Sisson liked what she saw from the rest of her squad too. “We have grown and improved every game,” she said. “Tonight I watched different players step up and play their best game yet.” She singled out 5-9 sophomore forward Audra Bickel, who scored all ten of her points in the second half to keep the Crusaders at bay. “She was on the boards a ton and was aggressive on the offensive end of the floor,” said Sisson.
Fuller hit the first bucket of the game, a three-pointer from right of the key, a minute into the contest, then added a steal and layup, a drive on the right side, and a short jumper to tally nine for the quarter, leading Heritage to a 12-8 advantage at the first break. Ten more points from Fuller and five from sophomore guard Olivia Lybarger helped the Pats outscore the Crusaders 19-7 in the second quarter.
Any hopes that Canterbury fans harbored for a comeback were dashed when Fuller opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws and Bickel followed with a pair of jumpers to make it 37-15.
Though the Crusaders closed to within 14 with 6:02 left in the fourth quarter on Sydney Coley’s jumper from the right elbow, the Patriots’ Riley Roy countered with a bucket on the right block (nicely assisted by Fuller’s drive and dish), and Bickel added six straight points in less than a minute to grow the lead to 22 again, 49-27. The Pats were never seriously challenged after that.
Playing a mix of man-to-man and zone defense, Heritage held Canterbury to a frigid 11-of-41 (27%) shooting on twos, though the Crusaders did hit half of their threes (5-10). They made only three of their 12 free throws.
The Patriots made 18-of-52 (35%) twos, 4-of-15 (27%) threes, and 8-of-10 (80%) free throws.
Lybarger and Roy each scored eight for Heritage. Lilly Ward and Addison Meyer chipped in two apiece.
Freshman Manhattan Morrisey scored 10 to lead Canterbury. Kate Laurie added eight.
Heritage will travel to Wayne next Tuesday, November 19.
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