Sports
Girls Basketball: North Beats Nanuet At Home Opener (VIDEO)
The Rams dominated throughout the game
Clarkstown North Girls Basketball Coach Kerry Sullivan normally stays away from zone defense, but this weekend she decided to try one out.
“I thought maybe trying to change that up would set a different tone,” she said.
On Monday, the Rams had their first game since implementing a zone, and they held Nanuet to just 34 points in a 52-34 win in North’s home opener.
“The girls really committed to it, they worked hard and they got a lot of tips, a lot of stops,” she said.
The Rams (3-4) jumped out to a 7-2 lead a few minutes into the game and finished the first quarter with a 14-5 lead. Early in the second, North increased its lead to 21-8 and never let the Golden Knights (1-3) back within single digits.
“We shot very poorly from the field,” said Nanuet Coach Carlos Fidalgo. “They play very athletic, very inspired and they play hard.”
While the Knights might not have shot it well as a team, Lisa Kahn was a standout in the loss. The senior had a game-high 15 points, all coming on 3-pointers.
For North, Brianne Schneider led the way with 14 points, followed by Erin Ryder, who netted 10. Eight different Rams hit a field goal.
“Offensively, they were looking for each other coming up the court,” Sullivan said.
The Rams had a few opportunities to run up the court as they had an increasing number of fastbreaks as the game went on.
“We tried to pressure full-court and get back in the game, and it created open looks for them,” Fidalgo said. “It’s part of the trade-off you have to have. If you want to pressure full-court, you’re going to give up some of those shots too.”
Fidalgo said his team created too large a deficit early in the game to climb out of.
For the Rams, they feel like this game is a turning point in their season, according to Jen Mongiori.
“Inevitably as time goes on, you become closer as a team, and I think this game really showed how hard we work in practice,” she said.
Sullivan agreed.
“It’s a young team,” she said. “The chemistry of the team is setting in, and I think that’s going to take us a good distance this season.”
In addition to the zone defense, Sullivan noticed the team helping one another out on the defensive end a lot. She said she thinks that shows the girls learning to trust each other more.
“They weren’t necessarily comfortable working together yet,” Sullivan said. “Now that that’s setting in, I think that comfort and the ability to find each other is really going to work to our advantage.”
