Southeast basketball surges to start second half, wins fifth straight

PALMYRA TWP. — An eight-point second-quarter lead proved insufficient.

So the Pirates promptly went back to work, scoring the first 11 points of the second half.

That proved just enough for Southeast girls basketball to hold off visiting Crestwood, 39-33, to record its fifth straight victory Wednesday evening.

"It's just a grind for us and that's kind of how we play," Pirates coach Craig Nettleton said. "There's nothing fancy or flashy. It just starts defensively to where we keep people where we need them to be. We've done that so far defensively."

After three Hannah Ward 3-pointers in the second quarter helped the Red Devils erase the Pirates' 18-10 lead, Southeast stormed back.

Knotted at 18, Crestwood poked the ball away on defense, except the ball caromed right to Southeast junior Lexi Morris, who hit a go-ahead runner.

Following a scoreless first half, sophomore Kayla Grope hit a layup to push the Pirates' lead to 22-18, the first of her six buckets on the night.

Grope, who ended up leading Southeast (7-1) with 12 points, followed by snagging her own missed layup, off a nice fast-break pass from senior Anna Keto, and laying the ball back in for a 25-18 edge.

The sophomore, who mostly scored on layups and putbacks, even swished a mid-range jumper midway through the third quarter.

Keto, who had six points, added a slow-and-surge transition layup to expand the Pirates' lead to 29-18 with 3:10 remaining in the third.

"We have to make those plays and Cam [McPeak] has done a good job of finding people open all year, leading the break a lot of times," Nettleton said. "Our kids have run because they know that Cam is unselfish and she's going to give the ball to them, so they run because, yeah, you run, you might get an easy one."

It turned out the Pirates needed every bucket because Ward (15 points, 5-of-11 from deep) wasn't done.

Ward snapped a string of five-and-a-half scoreless minutes for Crestwood (1-7) with a quick-fire trey off a pass from fellow sophomore Abby Guyette.

"Today was big for her," said Red Devils coach T.J. Henderson, who noted that Ward put in extra work before Wednesday's game after struggling with her shot earlier this season. "She can shoot when she's confident, and then when she catches fire, it's fun to watch."

Ward's fifth and final 3-pointer, off a sensational cross-court pass from another sophomore in Maddie Dustman, brought the Red Devils within a point (31-30).

"Their heart and effort is definitely not something that I second guess one bit," Henderson said. "They're a pretty close knit group. They really love playing and being with each other."

Keto and Grope, who else, helped the Pirates add distance, as the senior sent a slick wraparound pass, post to post, to Grope for a layup.

Southeast senior Katie Long, who drained a pair of baseline jumpers in the first quarter, added one last short swish to push the lead to five (35-30).

"Katie's a good shooter," Nettleton said. "That's kind of what she brings to the team. We've just finally got her to where she'll shoot those open shots. It's been a struggle to get her to do that, and when she does, she can hurt somebody with those jumpers, 15-, 16-footers."

When the Red Devils got within a basket one last time (35-33), Grope again came up huge, snagging Keto's fast-break miss and putting the ball in, then adding a driving bank shot with 26 seconds left that proved the dagger.

"The one I really liked is when she crashed the board that Keto had a nice drive and missed the layup and she came in and caught it quickly, put it right back in and that's something she's been working on," Nettleton said. "So it's nice to see her take the thing that she's working on at practice and then take them into a game and perform well."

Three Points

Here are three extra points from Wednesday's game:

1. Katie Long steps up for Southeast

Long didn't just hit a few shots for Southeast.

She also started, filling in for Sophia Fischer, who was out sick.

"She stepped in for Sophia Fischer," Nettleton said. "We had a starter not here today, so we had next man up and Katie was next man up today and she did a great job filling in."

2. Maddie Dustman's incredible pass shows confidence

Dustman's assist to Ward that set up the latter's fifth 3-pointer wasn't just important in that it got Crestwood within a point.

It was also an unbelievable pass, from the left wing to the right corner, and a symbol of a sophomore who is gaining confidence in Dustman.

"This year, it started off where her confidence wasn't there, and now, all of the sudden, it's starting to get better and better," Henderson said. "She has the ability to do some of those things that you don't see very often in the game and she makes those passes and she's strong and powerful and has that ability to be agile and quick."

3. Southeast wins without a 3-pointer

It's a bit of a rarity in modern basketball, but the Pirates won Wednesday's game without hitting a single 3-pointer. In fact, they attempted just three, compared to 38 shots from inside the arc.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Southeast basketball surges to start second half, wins fifth straight