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caption, page 11:
Lani Cornfield. Photo by Vaso Brodeur.
PSA girls drop
pair of games
Devin Hill is a realist who never expected he would come in to Putnam Science Academy and lead a run of dominant wins all the way to a national championship.
But the new girls' prep coach at PSA probably also had a more ideal outlook than the results of his first two games.
The Mustangs dropped both contests they played, by a total of nine points, first 68-63 at home to St. Andrew’s of Rhode Island Jan. 10, then 49-45 at Immaculate Heart (N.J.) two days later.
“You’ve just got to learn from each game,” Hill said after the Friday night loss. “I think they’re frustrated because (St. Andrews) didn’t do anything that surprised us. (We) knew what (they) wanted to do. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy to win, but there were no surprises.
“So the message is, you lose, you get punched in your mouth, you say ‘you got me’, and then you punch back. That’s it. You don’t put your tail between your legs. This is what high-level basketball is.”
Lani Cornfield had 13 points, Aaliyah Brittian 12, and Delaney Haines 11 but PSA couldn’t overcome foul issues and trouble on the defensive glass.
“From the warmup we didn’t have the energy that we usually have,” PSA guard Lucie Castagne said. “I think the three-week break hurt us a lot. Our shots didn’t go in like usual. And we fouled too much and we didn’t get rebounds. They killed us on offensive rebounds. We just stayed on the perimeter and watched. It was just effort.”
Shots weren’t falling again against Immaculate Heart, as Cornfield was the lone PSA player to reach double figures, scoring 17 points in the loss. Ness William added nine points, and Haines six for the Mustangs (10-6).
The girls’ varsity team fared better, winning its only game of the week (a second scheduled game was cancelled), when Zanashia Croft dropped 27 points in a 66-40 win over Bradford Christian Academy on Jan. 8.
May Santiago added nine points, Bri Mead and Sofia Marcos eight apiece, and Alex Hutchins finished with seven for the Mustangs (6-1).
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information
Director
Putnam Science
Academy
.