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MOORSEVILLE, N.C. — Putnam Science Academy took a big step last weekend as a program loading up the buses and heading 800 miles down to North Carolina to compete in the Independent School National Championships.
The Lady Mustangs finished out the regular season with a 20-6 record heading into their second appearance in the National Tournament and were trying to improve on last year’s one and done loss in the first round. And they made it to the final 4 this time.
“We are ready this time around” said Head Coach Derek Marchione. “Last year we had different things going on down the stretch with our team but this year I feel like we are more prepared and focused on the task at hand.”
PSA was laser focused.
The Lady Mustangs were ranked #4 and had a match-up with Empower Academy which had a familiar face in Kayla Robinson. Robinson played for Marchione on last year’s Mustangs team before transferring at season’s end.
Putnam Science refused to be one and done this year as they raced out to a 35-18 lead at halftime before pouring it on for a 64-43 win to advance to the second round. Rhode Island commit Xianna Josephs led PSA with 13 points in a balanced offensive attack with New Hampshire commit Helena Dellaruelle adding 11 points and Marist commit Trinasia Kennedy forcing turnovers on the defensive end that led to 8 points. Three other Mustangs: Ariana Koivisto, Abby Robinson and Aliyah Brittan, had 6 points each. “They followed the game-plan with precision today” Marchione said. “The energy was there, the effort was there, I’m really proud of the way the girls executed not only offensively but defensively as well.”
Putnam Science Academy then set up a date with Lincoln Prep, a talented Prep team from Canada with 3 Division 1 players on their roster. The Mustangs would play even better than they did in the first round, running away with a 72-47 victory to move on to the Final 4. Junior forward Abby Robinson was a huge factor in the game dominating the paint and scoring at will throughout. Robinson had 10 first half points and carried first half momentum into the second half, finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Providence College commit Fatima Lee added 13 points and the Mustangs were geared up, playing their best ball headed into the final 4 versus #1 seed and North Carolina’s own Westridge Academy.
The scorching hot play came to a cold end in the final 4 with Westridge pulling away late to win 55-38.
PSA had just 3 players score in the 1st half as they trailed 24-18. Ariana Koivsito, a second-year player for PSA and a Southern New Hampshire commit, did all she could leading PSA with 10 points out of the team’s 18. Trinasia Kennedy buried a corner 3 as play began in the second half to cut the lead to 3, 24-21, but that was as close as the Mustangs would get.
“We just couldn’t get any shots to fall” Marchione said after the heart-breaking loss. “We played so well in those first 2 games and then just went cold. Have to give credit to Westridge; they came to play and did what they had to do to win.” Koivisto finished with 13 points and Trinasia Kennedy’s impressive weekend continued as she added 11 points.
Upset after ultimately falling short of their goal, the Lady Mustangs had to get refocused and not give up competing in the third-place game the following morning versus #3 seed St. Laurent from Canada. The Mustangs started sluggish trailing by as many as 9 before going on a 10-0 run to end the half up 25-22. Back and forth the two teams went down the stretch answering one another with big baskets. Ariana Koivisto, in her last game as a Mustang, wasn’t going down without a fight. Koivisto led PSA once again with 10 first-half points and ended her day tied for the team lead with 14 points. It was Fatima Lee who redeemed herself for the Mustangs. Lee, a post-grad and already committed to play Division 1 at Providence, had one final game in a Mustang uniform. After not being able to find any rhythm against Westridge and going scoreless, arguably her worst game as a member of the Mustangs, Fatima did what she’s been capable of all season long: Hit big shots. After a go-ahead 3 in the corner by St. Laurent with 20 seconds remaining, PSA raced down the court, not calling timeout and tried to a basket as they trailed by 1, 48-47. Kennedy pump-faked in the corner and dished the ball to Xianna Josephs at the left elbow. Xianna spotted Fatima on the right wing as St. Laurent was in zone and were trying to rotate towards the ball. Josephs delivered the pass to Fatima and she rose up from 3 and sank the shot to give the Mustangs a 50-48 lead with 7.5 seconds to play. “I was so happy for Fatima when that shot went in” Marchione said ecstatically during postgame. “She was really hard on herself for the game the night before against Westridge and she didn’t want to go out like that. I told the girls before we played that we are going to compete hard and play the Mustang way.” St. Laurent quickly advanced the ball to the other end and had a game tying lay-up attempt but failed to convert and the Mustangs held on to capture third place in the National Tournament.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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