The SMS Girls Basketball team received the 7 seed in the post season tournament that kicked off today, and faced the 10 seed Readington in a play-in game to advance to the quarterfinals.
The girls started strong, opening the game on an 8-0 run which is where the first quarter ended. Readington started to get into the game in the 2nd quarter, but could only match the Hilltoppers efforts. The first half saw some good plays run with Charlotte Yarnall finishing on the inside multiple times, Emma Ryan hitting a 3-pointer on a kick-out from Yarnall, and 4 rebounds in the half by Annie McGovern. Elsie Fosgate scored at the buzzer on a feed from Yarnall to end the half with Summit up 16-8.
The teams traded baskets in the 3rd quarter with not much change in the lead. The 4th quarter however was a different story, as Readington had some success getting shots to fall including a 3 pointer to pull within 4 points of the lead. However, solid rebounding by Yarnall, McGovern and Welsh allowed the girls to maintain the lead. With Readington pressing hard in the last 2 minutes, a couple of deep passes on the inbound to the front court resulted in 6 points by Welsh in the final minutes to put the game away.
Yarnall finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Ryan had 9 points and 4 rebounds, Welsh 7 points and 4 rebounds, and McGovern had 7 rebounds on the game.
The girls will travel to Franklin (2) this Friday Feb 4th for their quarterfinal matchup where they will try to avenge a loss from earlier in the season. Game time is 4pm.