Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — Going deep isn’t just an expression for home run hitters in baseball.

The St. Joseph Female Flyers “went deep” on Monday as they hit 9-of-20 shots from behind the 3-point arc in a 53-39 win over the Rock Hill Redwomen.

Hannah Miller buried five triples and Amber Neal knocked down four more as they combined for 40 points. Miller had 22 points and Neal scored 18.

“We shot the 3s pretty well,” said St. Joseph coach Nick Miller. “Amber and Hannah did the bulk of the scoring, but there were so many other girls who made nice contributions in other areas.”

Contributing in other areas were Bri Bridges with 11 rebounds, Lynsey Booker with 8 points, 4 steals and 3 assists, and Molly Miller turned in a strong defensive effort.

“Bridges did a nice job on the boards. Booker handled the ball well at the end of the game when they were trying to double Hannah. Molly had to guard a guard and she is usually a post defender,” said coach Miller.

Rock Hill (1-2) was led by Kasey Russel with 14 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Sami Dillon had 6 points and 4 rebounds.

“Miller and Neal were both on and we didn’t do a very good job of contesting their shots,” said Rock Hill coach Greg Damron.

“We fought back pretty good. We had a good first quarter, but they jumped on us in the second quarter and made it hard for us to come back.”

Rock Hill led 12-9 after the first quarter thanks to a pair bombs of its own as Lindy Simpson hit a two 3-pointers. Hannah Miller scored 7 points in the quarter.

But St. Joseph caught fire in the second quarter and outscored the Redwomen 22-9 and led 29-21 at the break.

Neal had 8 points while Booker and Hannah Miller scored 6 each. Neal and Miller each hit a pair of trifectas.

Neal and Miller combined for 11 points in the third quarter as St. Joseph extended its lead to 43-31. Russell tried to keep Rock Hill close with 5 points.

The Female Flyers led by 20 points on two occasions in the second half. Rock Hill managed to cut the deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter before the Female Flyers began to pull away.

In the reserve game, Rock Hill won 18-8 in two quarters.

St. Joseph 9 20 14 10 = 53

Rock Hill 12 9 10 8 = 39

ST. JOSEPH (4-0): Katie Roach 0 0 0-0 0, Jenna Rawlins 0 0 0-0 0, Amber Neal 1 4 4-7 18, Brea Eastham 0 0 0-0 0, Erin Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0, Ashlee Blankenship 0 0 0-0 0, Hannah Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Hanna Miller 3 5 1-2 22, Haley Bartram 1 0 0-0 2, Bri Bridges 1 0 1-2 3, Molly Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Lynsey Booker 3 0 2-8 8. Totals: 18-47 8-19 53. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 9-20. Rebounds: 10-20=30 (Bridges, Neal 7). Assists: 8 (Booker 3). Turnovers: 16. Steals: 9 (Booker 4).

ROCK HILL (1-3): Lindy Simpson 0 2 0-0 6, Ashton Neal 0 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Massie 0 0 0-0 0, Sabrina Henderson 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Travis 1 1 0-0 5, Madison Damron 1 0 0-0 2, Patty Riffe 0 0 0-0 0, Samantha Dillon 3 0 0-1 6, Kasey Russell 2 3 1-2 14, Anna Darby 2 0 2-6 6. Totals: 9 6 3-10 39. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.