YARMOUTH — Yarmouth overcame a sluggish start and showed balance and depth Saturday in a Class B South girls’ basketball game against Lake Region.
The Clippers placed nine players in the scoring column as they gradually pulled away for a 51-29 victory.
Yarmouth (2-0) was paced by 14 points from Ava Feeley.
“I love our balance,” said Clippers Coach David Cousins. “It’s a good thing to have a team that’s deep. Overall, after game No. 2, I’m very happy with this group.”
The Lakers (0-3), who always feature great outside shooting, got early 3-pointers from Shelby-Lynn Sheldrick and Liz Smith to go up 8-5. But Yarmouth closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run, going ahead to stay on a layup after a steal from Katelyn D’Appolonia. A Feeley basket late in the quarter gave the Clippers a 13-8 advantage after eight minutes.
Yarmouth stretched its run to 14-0, punctuated by a layup from Cate King off a nice feed from Feeley. After Elle Hall made a basket for Lake Region, the Clippers scored the final seven points of the half, capped by an Aine Powers layup, for a commanding 29-10 lead.
Feeley credited the defense for sparking the offense.
“I think our defense is really good,” said Feeley. “Once we locked in on defense, we were able to stop them from penetrating through the middle and shooting, since they have good shooters on the team.”
The Lakers tried to answer early in the second half, as Brianna Sargent and Abby Lavoie both sank 3-pointers. But Nenna Panozzo made a layup, then Feeley hit a 3, and Yarmouth was up 40-19 after three quarters.
The Clippers led by as many as 26 points before closing it out.
“It seems the way for Yarmouth girls’ basketball is to get off to a slow start, but we’re working on it,” Cousins said. “They hit some 3s early and we were a little lackadaisical, but once we got it going, we were able to press.
“We have an athletic team and I thought our pressure would eventually get to them, and that’s what happened.”
In addition to Feeley’s 14 points, King and Maya Panozzo each scored seven, Lauren Keaney had six, Lexi Clark five, D’Appolonia and Powers four each and Neena Panozzo and Nori Schneider two apiece.
“Our bench is really deep and everyone works so hard in practice,” said Feeley. “Everybody trusts each other, which is a big thing on a team.”
Lake Region was led by seven points from Ava Smith, six from Sheldrick and five from Liz Smith, but turned the ball over 25 times.
“It’s difficult when turnovers lead to easy baskets, and that made it an uphill battle,” said Lakers Coach Paul True. “I love my team and we’ll keep playing hard and getting better every day. Hopefully as the season moves along, we’ll improve.”
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