Published: November 26, 2008 09:56 am         

Irish start season with win

CLINTON — The Prince of Peace girls basketball team opened its season on a winning note as they took a 56-51 decision from the Sterling Christian Trojans in non-conference action Tuesday at Central Catholic Auditorium.

It was the first game for the Irish while the visitors from Sterling, Ill., already won their first four games of the season but the Irish spoiled their bid to make it five as they played good defensively.

The Irish got on the board first as Katie Isenhour (nine points) hit one of two free throws and two field goals from Brooke Craig (14 points) for an early 5-2 lead.

Colleen Ryan (game high 18 points) hit two baskets and two free throws to go on top 12-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Irish came out strong in the second quarter with a 13-4 run to increase their lead to 14 points, 25-11 with 1:35 left in the first half.

The Trojans answered with three baskets and a free throw to cut the margin to seven points at halftime 25-18.

Defense played a key role in the quarter as the teams exchanged baskets as the Trojans won the quarter 12-11 to cut the margin to six points heading into the final frame with the Irish on top 36-30.

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter the Trojans offense got going and came up with a 9-0 run to take their first lead 39-36 midway in the period and then increased their lead to eight points 47-39 with three minutes remaining.

The Irish answered with some good free throw shooting as Rachel Ryan (12 points) hit six of seven free throws and a 3-pointer from Craig, along with a bucket and two free throws from Colleen Ryan and four free throws from Isenhour to hold on for the win.

Sterling Christian (1-4) had three players in double figures, paced by Sarah Weber with 16 points, Molly Cook 13 and Aleena Hammelman with 11.

The Irish will be back in action Friday when they travel to Preston for the first round of a 4-team holiday tournament. The Irish will play Preston at 7 p.m. The tourney will continue on Saturday with the championship and consolation games being held at Central Catholic Auditorium with the times to be announced later.

“We struggled at times as this was our first game and we were playing a team that had played four games and it showed. We had to work real hard and had to execute to get the win. We played quite a few girls to get some motivation going and experience, but it paid off for us,” said Prince of Peace assistant coach Andy Isenhour.



Score by Quarters

Sterling Christian 7 11 13 21 — 51

Prince of Peace 12 13 11 20 — 56

Scoring

Sterling Christian (51)

Molly Cook 5 2-2 13, Aleena Hammelman 4 3-9 11, Mary Poulter 2 0-0 4, Paige St. Ores 8 0-3 16, Sarah Weber 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 6-16 51.

Prince of Peace (56)

Rachel Ryan 2 6-7 12, Brooke Craig 6 0-0 14, Colleen Ryan 7 4-7 18, Ari Aquilani 0 0-0 0, Laura Heikkinen 0 2-2 2, Jill Crigger 0 1-2 1, Katie Isenhour 2 5-8 9, Emily Gardner 0 0-0 0, Carrie Kuehn 0 2-4 2, Kiana Johnson 0 0-0 0, Chrissy Kokjohn 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 20-30 56.

3-point goals—SC 1 (Cook); POP 4 (R. Ryan 2, Craig 2). Total fouls—SC 21, Pop 18. Fouled out—SC (Hammelman, St. Ores).

Records—Sterling Christian 1-4, Prince of Peace 1-0. Next games— at Preston (holiday tournament), Friday at 700 p.m.

JV game— Prince of Peace 49, Sterling Christian 11.

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