Lady Devils answers coach's call

SPRING VALLEY — After falling behind by 13 points in the second quarter Thursday at Red Devil Gymnasium, Hall coach Dave Kain’s message to his Lady Red Devils was simple: “I told them they could either give up or get it.” 

They got it.

After those words, Hall (14-10) went on an 8-0 run to close out the first half. The momentum stayed with Hall during the second, outscoring the Princeton Tigresses (13-11) 16-5 in the third quarter to give them a six-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Hall never let the Tigresses get within eight points of the lead in the fourth quarter, winning the game 54-46.

“When they went up by that much, every other game if we’re down by that many, we fold the tent and the game’s over. The girls really stepped up,” Kain said. “We made a little run at the end of the second half, and we took them out of the game. The defense, I thought for the most part for the last two minutes of the first half, did an outstanding job.”

Along with not rebounding the basketball, Princeton coach Matt Huber thought missing lay ups and turnovers hurt the Tigresses the most in the game.

“It’s not going to cut it when you can’t make 2-foot jump shots and turn the ball over 25 plus times. We don’t value the basketball when we need to," he said.

Princeton started out the first quarter strong, led by senior guard C.J. Rhodes who hit two, three-pointers to give the Tigresses a 15-7 advantage after quarter No. 1. The Tigresses built their biggest lead of the game when Tesha Woolley hit a three-pointer, giving them a 13-point lead. It was downhill for the Tigresses after that.  

Hall was led by sophomore guard Kaylee Golden who started the comeback for the Lady Red Devils with a couple of steals and lay ups.

“She had a couple of shots there right at the end, and the momentum of just scoring those baskets in a row just kind of inspired us,” said senior Kelle Nett,

Hall senior Jaclyn Kain led the Lady Red Devils with a game-high 19 points along with sophomore guard Brenna Faletti contributing 13.  Hall senior center Kelle Nett led the Lady Red Devils on the defensive end with a game-high 22 rebounds.