NSA girls crush Lady Knights
Published 10:23 pm Thursday, December 6, 2012
Nansemond-Suffolk freshman guard Harper Birdsong drives against the Peninsula Catholic defense and dished out nine assists during the Lady Saints’ dominant 65-10 home victory on Thursday night.
The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy varsity girls’ basketball team won handily against visiting Peninsula Catholic on Thursday night, 65-10.
The Lady Saints held a 26-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Peninsula Catholic finally got on the board at the 6:27 mark in the second quarter off a shot by senior forward Briley Naab to make it 30-2.
“It was an easy game,” NSA junior guard/forward Kaylor Nash said. “We just used this game to work on other things we need to work on like passing or dribbling or control.”
Nansemond-Suffolk junior guard Macy Mears puts the ball up on a fast break as the Lady Saints cruised to a lopsided 65-10 victory against visiting Peninsula Catholic on Thursday night.
The Lady Saints were led in scoring by junior guard Jessica Pieroni with 18 points, and Nash had 16 points and six rebounds.
Though the game was not challenging for NSA, the question remains as to whether or not a winning team played well. NSA head coach Kim Aston was pleased on that front.
“I thought we moved the ball well,” she said. “I thought we played hard defensively, and that’s where we have to try to set the tone this year.”
Pieroni explained what kind of mindset is important for the Lady Saints to bring in a game like this.
“Not to play down to the opponent,” she said. “In previous years we’ve done that a lot, and I think the more we work on crisp passes, stuff like that, it’s good for us.”
Aston echoed some of these thoughts.
“We just are trying to, in games like that, just improve on what we can improve on,” she said.
“One of the things that we needed to do a better job of was when we throw an outlet pass, not turning and dribbling as soon as we catch the ball, and Harper (Birdsong) did a good job of that tonight,” she said. “She caught it, found open people up ahead of her and got the ball up the floor quickly.”
Freshman guard Harper Birdsong contributed nine assists and five rebounds.
The game gave the Lady Saints an opportunity to try out a different defensive scheme.
“We went to a zone,” Aston said. “We don’t play much zone, but we need work on it.”
Freshman center Caroline Hogg had nine points and three blocks.
Pieroni pointed out another opportunity that the game represented for some of her teammates.
“I’m glad everyone got to play, good playing time for a lot of the younger kids,” Pieroni said.
Aston rested many of the starters in both halves. She expects far more of a challenge in NSA’s next game this weekend when the Lady Saints (3-1, 0-0) play Tabb High School in Yorktown on Saturday.
