Notre Dame fends off Eastern

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Derrick Parker

PDT Sports Contributor

PORTSMOUTH – The Notre Dame Lady Titans overcame an early first quarter deficit to beat the Eastern Eagles Monday night, by a score of 61-42. The Titans shot fifty percent from the floor throughout the game and Hagen Shaefer had 21 points on the night.

The Eagles held a ten point lead in the first quarter, up 13-3. The Titans managed to battle back and cut the deficit to just two points for a score of 13-11 going into the second period.

The Titans woke up and went for 21 points in the second quarter. They limited the Eagles to just 6 points as they turned up the defensive pressure on Eagles star Carson Roney. Shaefer had eight points in the quarter, leading the rally for Notre Dame. On the night she also had seven rebound and four steals. Ragen Kayser was tasked with being the first defender on Roney much of the night. She added 11 points to the effort for the Titans as well.

Carson Roney had another good night for the Eagles. She had 24 points and 10 rebounds. Breanna Green had eight points, and Olivia Hatfield had 6 while managing six rebounds and four steals. Turnovers were an Achilles heel for the Eagles, as they had 28 on the night. They also struggled to find consistent scoring in the second and third quarter, putting in just six points in each quarter.

The Eagles showed their fighting spirit in the fourth, attempting to battle back from a 21 point deficit. They managed to outscore the Titans, but not enough to change the outcome of the game. Eagles Head Coach Darren King sees improvement in his young team despite their losses.

“Its mental mistakes for us,” said King. “We are so close. We come out and we play hard, we were even up on them and then the next thing you know the effort and the hustle diminishes. It’s just too many turnovers. You aren’t going to win many games when you are averaging 30 turnovers a game. It’s our mistakes, they aren’t really forced by the defense.”

“They just have to believe in themselves. I think the first part of the game proves that. We finally figured out that if we drop and help in the post we can get some turnovers. These kids have improved, though. When you throw so many freshmen against juniors and seniors it’s a learning curve. Hopefully by the

seasons end we will be where we should be. I’m not giving up on them, they just have to believe in themselves.”

The Eagles travel to New Boston to face off against the Lady Tigers on Thursday. Tipoff is at 6:00 P.M.

Notre Dame Head Coach JD McKenzie admitted the game wasn’t always pretty, but they played well enough to get the victory.

“We didn’t play very clean but we played well enough to win,” said McKenzie. “I thought Kayser was big for us tonight defending Carson. Eastern kept fighting and we never got to pull away completely on them but we managed to get the win.”

Notre Dame travels to Sciotoville to face off against the lady Tartans on Thursday.

“We have to clean up some things. We are turning the ball over too much. We did a terrible job boxing out and getting rebounds tonight. Our defense is tight but it doesn’t matter when you give up easy second chances. We are shooting the ball well so that isn’t an issue. We have to limit the second chances. If we hold East to one shot a possession and limiting Shay Brown’s penetration I think we will be alright.”

Reach Derrick Parker at [email protected] or on twitter @DC__Parker

Box Score 1 2 3 4 F

Eastern 13 6 6 17 42

Notre Dame 11 21 15 14 61

Individual Stats:

Notre Dame: Shaefer 21, Kayser 11, L. Smith 10, Dettwiller 8, A. Smith 7, Hoover 4; Eastern: Roney 24, Green 8, Hatfield 6, Fremont 4

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