Greyhounds chop down Maples after slow start

By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
After dropping a pair of games last week, the Monessen girls basketball team looks to be back on track after winning its second straight game Monday.
The Greyhounds (7-4, 5-2) were able to shake off a slow start and blow past visiting Mapletown, 44-19, in a Section 2-A play.
Sydney Caterino scored a team-high 13 points for the Greyhounds while Mercedes Majors finished with 11.
“The slow starts are something that have plagued us all season,” Monessen head coach Janine Vertacnik said. “When teams are coming out in that zone against us, we don’t have that pure shooter out there. So we can’t get anything started unless we make it happen from our defense.”
Caterino hit a jumper in the final seconds of the first to give Monessen a 6-4 lead.
But the Greyhounds really got things going in the second quarter, using their defense and speed.
Majors scored the Greyhounds’ first three points of the frame to push the lead to 9-5, then Caterino hit consecutive baskets after a pair of Maples’ turnovers to make the lead 13-7 two minutes later.
“Syd really got us going with her defense,” Vertacnik said. “I think when we used our pressure we were able to get some turnovers and get some layups. Usually we wait until that one player – tonight it was Sydney – that really gets us going.”
Mapletown’s Krista Wilson scored three straight points to cut the Monessen lead to 13-10 before the Greyhounds ended the half with a 6-0 run to carry a 19-10 lead into halftime.
“It’s tough because when you’re playing against a team with only seven players, you’d like to go to your man defense and really get the tempo up. But when you only have nine like we do, you can’t do it as much as you’d like,” Vertacnik said.
The Greyhounds found their rhythm as other players started hitting shots in the third quarter. Monessen outscored the Maples, 14-6, in the frame. From the 5:29-mark until there was under a minute left, Monessen dropped 11 of the next 12 points of the game. The lone Maples’ score was a Taylor Dusenberry free throw.
“I thought in the second half we did a better job controlling the boards,” Vertacnik said. “When we were attacking the 2-3 zone, we had some really nice passing there in the second half. I thought we showed some patience in attacking the basket.”
Wilson, who finished with a game-high 14 points for Mapletown, converted a three-point play to make it 33-16 after three quarters of play.
The fourth quarter started with more dominance from the Greyhounds.
They started out with an 11-2 run to finish off their scoring and take a 44-18 lead in the first 6:30 of the frame. Mapletown as a whole scored only three points in the quarter.
“We had some really nice passing. There was a couple good possessions where Mercedes made a couple good passes to her sister (MyAsia Majors) and got her a couple baskets,” Vertacnik said. “The biggest thing for us is communication. I don’t think I’ve started the same lineup more than a couple times. We’re nine, 10 games into this season and we’re still looking for the right fit. Sometimes it just depends on who we’re playing and what we need on the floor.”
The factor that haunted both teams in the contest was free-throw shooting. For the game, Monessen went only 5 of 17 and the Maples shot 7 of 18.
“Neither team made free throws tonight. Sometimes I swear we’re shooting better from the three-point line than the free throw line,” Vertacnik said. “We have to get better at that. And shooting as a whole.
“We’re getting 70 shots a game, and 18-19 steals per game. We have to start putting the ball in the basket. With three more games this week, I’m hoping to see improvement there.”
The Greyhounds host Carmichaels tonight at 5:30 p.m.

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