Tigers Come Alive After Halftime To Beat Toll Gate, 47-33

Sometimes in basketball, it takes just one good half of play to be successful.

After sputtering its way through the first half Tuesday night in Warwick, the girls' basketball team woke up in time in the final period, scoring 19 unanswered points in a critical juncture, and went on to defeat host Toll Gate High School 47-33 in a Division II-South game.

Sophomore forward Jenny Burton scored a career best 24 points – including five three-point baskets – as Tiverton won its second straight divisional outing. They improved to 2-1 in league play, and upped their overall mark this season to 2-2.

But this one was not easy.

The Tigers were decisively outhustled by the winless Titans (0-5) in the first half, shot miserably from the floor, committed several unforced errors and went scoreless in one stretch for nearly seven minutes. Nevertheless, after trailing by as many as 9 points, Tiverton shaved its deficit to three points (16-13) at the break and was deadlocked at 26-26 with 8:19 to play.

During the next 5:42 the Tigers ran off 19 straight points, including 13 by Burton, who buried a couple of treys in that span, as well as six successive free throws. After Haley Higginbottom (9 points) swished two free throws to cap the streak, Tiverton owned a commanding 45-26 advantage with 2:37 to play and the final outcome was no longer in doubt.

"The first half was a nightmare," said Tiverton Coach Derrick Wise. "I had to get some things off my chest at halftime and then we went back to playing basketball."

Especially Burton. After making just 1-of-8 floor tries in the opening period, she caught fire early in the second half and produced a night to remember.

"In the first half, I was missing shots and my head wasn't in the game, but after talking to Coach Wise at halftime, everything came together," Burton said. "I've had good shooting nights before, but nothing like this."

Burton, Higginbottom and Samantha Welchman (6 points) produced most of Tiverton's offense, while Toll Gate was paced by Laura McGuire (10), Ingrid Freeman (7) and Nicole Fraser (6).

Resembling anything but a winless team, the Titans snapped an early 4-4 draw with an 8-0 burst and widened their gap to 15-6 with 4:52 to go in the first half on a Fraser bank shot. Four charity tosses by Welchman enabled Tiverton to creep to within 16-13 at the break.

Toll Gate forced numerous Tiger turnovers in the opening half with an aggressive and ball-hawking 2-3 zone defense. Tiverton, however, returned the favor in the second half and turned the game in its favor.

The Tigers took their first lead of the night with 8:31 remaining after Burton bottomed a trey and Bianca DiPrato banked in a short jumper to give Tiverton a 26-24 edge. Following an Amber Boucher runner, which knotted the count at 26-26, Burton's free throw launched Tiverton's decisive 19-0 eruption.

The Tigers return to action Sunday, Dec. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the Smithfield Holiday Tournament.