Lady Warriors Hold On For Win Against North Hunterdon

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The Lady Warriors looked a little slow coming off a nearly two-week coronavirus quarantine, but still managed to hold off a pesky North Hunterdon Regional, 53-47 on February 13.

North Hunterdon was helped by some hot hands, especially from the three-point zone, and some mistakes leading to turnovers by the Lady Warriors.

Both boys’ and girls’ programs were put on quarantine in late January, after unspecified contact with a person who had tested positive for the virus, a district official said.

The boys’ returned to the court on February 12, losing to Watchung Hills 79-70. They returned to winning ways on Feb. 13, beating North Hunterdon, 46-24.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Warriors jumped off to a quick 8-2 lead, capped by a Morgan Jones steal on Hunterdon’s side of the court before she delivered on a spinning jump shot in the paint.

Jones ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, giving the Lady Warriors a 13-9 lead at the close.

Kyierah Dempsey-Toney kicked off the second period with a layup, stretching the Lady Warriors’ lead to 15-9.

With 2:33 left in the first half, Jones once again stole the ball on the Hunterdon side, took it back herself and scored, giving the Lady Warriors a 22-18 lead.

North Hunterdon outscored the Lady Warriors 5-1 in the last two minutes of the half, taking a 23-22 lead into the locker room at the buzzer.

The Lady Warriors grabbed the lead back, 25-23, on a three-pointer by Iyanna Cotton.

The Lady Warriors built a 33-25 lead late in the third period, capped by four quick points by Jones. They extended that lead to 10 points, but a scoring run by North Hunterdon whittled that down before taking a four-point lead in the last several minutes of the period.

Cotton broke the Lady Warriors’ drought with a layup, cutting teh North Hunterdon lead to 39-37, and Dempsey-Toney tied the game a 39 with a spinning jump shot in the paint.

With 3:40 left in the game, Midgette gave the Lady Warriors a 41-39 lead by sinking both ends of a one-and-one.

With the game locked at 42, Demspey-Toney was fouled taking a successful shot, and then converted the and-one for a 45-42 Franklin lead.

That lead was boosted by a three-pointer by Erica Jackson, 48-42, with 3:21 left in the game.

With North Hunterdon in bonus, Jones sank both ends of a one-and-one to give the Lady Warriors a 50-43 lead with just over a minute left.

Jackson scorfed after bringing down an offensive rebound, boosting Franklin’s lead to 52-43, after which North Hunterdon scored to cut the lead to 52-45.

Midgette connected on half of a double-bonus foul shot, and North Hunterdon ended the game with a buzzer-beater, leaving the score at 53-47.

Lady Warriors Head Coach Audrey Taylor said the girls were feeling a little rusty after the long layoff.

“We just got back from being off for 11 days so I knew we would have to work through the rough patches and find a way to allow the good things to motivate us,” she said. “They fought through their mistakes and pulled out a win.”

With the win, the Lady Warriors advance to 2-0 for the season. The Lady Warriors’ next game is February 16, at Hillsborough High School.

Here are some scenes from the game:

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