SPORTS

Pats edge Titans for season sweep

By ALEX SPONSELLER
Posted 2/8/23

The Pilgrim girls basketball team edged rival Toll Gate 52-45 to sweep the season series after beating the Titans earlier in the winter as well.

It was a back and forth battle throughout and Toll …

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SPORTS

Pats edge Titans for season sweep

Posted

The Pilgrim girls basketball team edged rival Toll Gate 52-45 to sweep the season series after beating the Titans earlier in the winter as well.

It was a back and forth battle throughout and Toll Gate would take an 18-15 lead into halftime. The Pilgrim offense, though, would hit its rhythm in the second half to come back and get the win.

Jenna Madden led Pilgrim with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half to guide the comeback. Ariana Keebler added 10 points while Gianna Ramos and Amaya Coffie each scored eight. Bri Simono led Toll Gate with 15 points, followed by Amanda Preston with 10.

Pilgrim jumped out to an 8-0 start this season and had sole possession of first place in Division III at the midway point. The Pats stumbled and went 3-5 from there, so coach Kaitlyn Rachiele is hoping the win sparks a turnaround prior to the upcoming playoffs.

“This was big because we have to play these teams twice and we have not done well the second time against these teams. For us to play this well, to score 52 points, it’s huge. Our defense is always key but our offense came alive tonight. The girls needed this, we started off the season on such a roll but then went backwards,” said Rachiele.

The Pats held a five-point lead with 1:50 remaining in the fourth, and Toll Gate began fouling to send Pilgrim to the line. Pilgrim’s shooters would get the job done, hitting multiple free throws to close out the win.

“The mindset was to get the ball to Gianna and Ariana. But all of our girls showed that they could hit free throws. We didn’t panic because we knew that the girls that we had out there could put the shots up,” said Rachiele. “(Toll Gate wasn’t) hitting their foul shots but we were which was huge. Ariana Keebler stepped up big time, so did Jenna Madden. Gianna stepped up, too, and Amaya‘s defense is nonstop.”

Toll Gate struggled on the boards as Pilgrim, led by Ramos, dominated the rebounding battle.

“The rebounding hurt us at points. There were times that I felt that we could’ve gotten the ball and then the basket, but we didn’t. The kids played hard, they always play hard so I never question their effort. It was a good battle, (Pilgrim) played really well and Jenna Madden was awesome tonight,” said Toll Gate coach Jim Areson.

Toll Gate dropped to 12-4 with the loss while Pilgrim improved to 11-5. Despite the defeat, the Titans remain in first place while Pilgrim holds the second spot.

Areson hopes his team gets back on track as it looks to hold on to the top spot with two games left.

“Any team can beat any other team in this division which has made it a lot of fun. We still control our destiny, if we win out then we win our division. We played well and I’m looking forward to seeing how they respond,” said Areson.

Pat's, Titans, basketball

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