46 In A Row
ERHS Beats BHS, 54-45
Posted: January 24, 2013
East Rock’s Jessica Lam attacks the basket as Broadway’s Heather Cantrell defends Wednesday. (Photos by Michael Reilly / DN-R)
BHS’s Madyson Alger shoots as ERHS’s Jessica Lam defends Wednesday.
Turns out, it just looked that way. The strategy was more general.
“The plan was to score,” Nicholson said.
She just happened to be open the most.
Nicholson scored 12 points — 11 in the second half and eight in the third quarter — to rally East Rock from a six-point deficit, eventually scoring the go-ahead basket to lead the Eagles to a 54-45 girls’ basketball win over Broadway on Wednesday.
“She asserted herself on the defensive end and really posted up and wanted the basketball,” ERHS coach Paul Comer said.
Senior guard Jessica Lam and sophomore point guard Madison Comer led the Eagles (18-0 and winners of 46 games in a row) with 13 points each. Senior forward Sarah Cameron added 10 for East Rock, which led by as many as 13 points with 1:49 left in the game and repelled a late BHS rally in a lively Broadway gymnasium.
The Gobblers (13-3), thanks to a late spark, cut East Rock’s lead to 50-44 with 48.3 seconds left with an 8-1 run. But Broadway couldn’t get any closer. A layup by junior guard Autumn Bland — who drilled a 3-pointer with 1:08 left to cut ERHS’s lead to single digits — was negated after the referees ruled that she traveled.
Had the layup counted, BHS would have been within four points with 27 seconds to play. East Rockingham outscored the Gobblers, 4-1, the rest of the way despite shaky free-throw shooting. The Eagles made only 16 of 28 (57.1 percent) for the game and 13 of 25 (52 percent) in the second half.
“These kids have got a lot of heart,” Paul Comer said. “When you go through what we’ve been through the last couple years, and trying to fight every night to take everybody’s best shot — everybody wants to talk about that streak and put the pressure on us for that, but we try to avoid that. Our thought process is we’re never out of a game, and that’s exactly what I told them at halftime.”
Senior forward Heather Cantrell led Broadway with 20 points, 12 of which came in the first half. She scored the Gobblers’ first nine points during the first quarter.
Cantrell also made 10 of 14 attempts from the free-throw line, but the last of her misses kept her from reaching 1,000 points for her career. She entered Wednesday’s game 21 points shy, and with 5.2 seconds left, she missed the first of two free throws, which kept her one point short. Her next shot at 1,000 is Friday against Fort Defiance.
“It wasn’t really in mind,” Cantrell said of reaching 1,000 points. “It’s just I knew I had to play my best tonight, ’cause they were going to be tough.”
Junior forward Brianna Zook added 10 points for BHS, which led 30-24 with 2:52 left in the third quarter after Zook made a stickback. But East Rockingham rallied quickly.
Nicholson scored underneath and Madison Comer hit a 3 to get the Eagles within one. Then, Nicholson scored underneath again with 1:38 left in the third to give ERHS its first lead since the 4:43 mark in the first quarter.
The Eagles never gave it up.
“Obviously, I’m really pleased with the first half,” Broadway coach Bobby Mongold said. “We had good energy, and in the third quarter, we became really passive and let them make a run. I think we got passive on both ends. We were weak with the ball on offense, and then on defense, we were on our heels. We played on our heels. We didn’t get any ball pressure; we didn’t defend the post well; we didn’t get any help-side [defense], and they just picked us apart inside with Nicholson.”
EAST ROCKINGHAM
Dofflemyer 2 0-0 4, Comer 5 2-8 13, Cameron 3 4-6 10, Lam 3 6-8 13, Nicholson 5 2-4 12, Rouse 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 16-28 54.
BROADWAY
Alger 2 1-1 6, Cantrell 5 10-14 20, Bland 1 0-0 3, Zook 4 2-2 10, Earhart 1 2-2 4, Bergan 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 15-19 45.
East Rock 7 9 19 9 - 54
Broadway 9 12 9 15 - 45
3-Point Goals—East Rock 2 (Comer 1, Lam 1), BHS 2 (Alger 1, Bland 1). Fouled Out—BHS (Roadcap). Total Fouls—East Rock 14, BHS 21.