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Toronto girls overcome slow start to top Bridgeport

TORONTO — The Toronto girls’ basketball team shook off a slow start offensively against Bridgeport.

After the score was tied in the first quarter, the Red Knights outscored the Bulldogs, 26-5, the rest of the half as Toronto built a 21-point lead en route to a 58-24 victory in the second game of a boys and girls doubleheader Monday evening inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“We kind of struggled with that all year,” Toronto (7-8) head coach Rusty Hodgkiss said about his team’s slow start on offense. “We only have nine players, so we can’t play 5-on-five until game night. That has hurt us. It hurt us Saturday. We dug ourselves a 16-point hole, and we lost by 19. Our first quarter troubles I relate to in our inability to plat 5-on-5. We cannot simulate the speed of the game. That’s why we have the slow starts.”

The Red Knights tallied the final seven points of the first quarter to take a 10-3 lead into the second. The girls from the Gem City continued to play well in that quarter as they outscored the girls from Belmont County, 19-5, to extend their advantage to 29-8 at halftime.

The girls from Jefferson County were able to get out in transition and score some easy baskets helping them to increase their advantage.

“That’s our game,” Hodgkiss said. “We want to push the ball up the floor, and we want to get to the rim. We want to get to the free-throw line as much as possible. We did not convert those very well tonight.”

The victors outscored the visitors, 11-10, in the third to take a 40-18 lead into the fourth. Toronto outscored Bridgeport (3-8), 18-6, in the fourth to account for the final score.

A trio of players produced double digits in points for the Red-and-White. Individually, Jayna Reeves recorded a game-high 17 points, Josie Dickinson delivered 13 and Tatum Derrington tallied 11.

Hanna Brewer contributed a team-high nine points for the girls in blue, while Allanah Summers scored five.

Dickinson not only had a good day offensively, but she also got the job done on the defensive end as she shadowed Brewer all over the court.

“It would not be fun to have No. 24 for us follow you around everywhere,” Hodgkiss said. “She followed her everywhere there, and she followed her everywhere here. Her job was to stop 14, and she did a fantastic job. She knows how to frustrate you. She just goes non-stop. She has a lot of energy. She moves her feet. She’s always there. She’s a big part of the success we have had this season.”

The victory enabled the Red Knights to sweep the season series from the Bulldogs.

“They played a different defense on us tonight, and our initial reaction to it was not good,” Hodgkiss said. “They had us hemmed in pretty good.”

In the first game, Toronto defeated Buckeye Local, 67-33, via mercy rule.

Toronto is scheduled to play rival Wellsville in a varsity-only game at 7 p.m. Wednesday night as part of a boys and girls doubleheader.

“It’s a big game for OVAC consequences for us,” Hodgkiss said.

The Toronto boys are slated to play Shenandoah in a varsity-only game at 5:30 p.m.

Bridgeport is set to play Frontier Wednesday at home.

Toronto 58, Bridgeport 24

Bridgeport 3 5 10 6 – 24

Toronto 10 19 11 18 – 58

BRIDGEPORT (3-8): Jackson 0 0-2 0, McElroy 2 0-0 4, Chambers 1 0-0 2, Summers 2 0-0 5, Brewer 4 1-6 9, Baxter 2 0-0 4, Snodgrass 0 0-0 0, Mattern 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Barath 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 1-8 24.

TORONTO (7-8): Derrington 5 1-2 11, Sapp 0 3-4 3, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Piatt 1 0-0 2, Reeves 7 2-13 17, Rebich 1 1-4 4, Owings 1 0-1 2, Yost 3 0-0 6, Dickinson 6 1-2 13. TOTALS: 22 8-26 58.

3-POINTERS: Bridgeport 1 (Summers); Toronto 2 (Reeves, Rebich)

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