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Jan. 15, 2015 Girls Basketball
Stull looked ‘forward’ to helping Steinert rally past WW-Plainsboro South
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Jan. 16: To look at Nicole
Stull – all 5-foot-6 of her –
you probably wouldn’t nod
your head, stroke your
chin and say “Ahh yes,
she’s a natural born
forward.”
And yet, that is where the
senior ended up -- and
stepped up -- tonight in
helping the Steinert girls’
basketball team to a 4942 victory over visiting
West Windsor-Plainsboro
South.
After a brutal first half that Cassidy Wood tries to dribble around WW-P South's Alyssa Rivers during tonight's game
saw Steinert trailing 19-11 (Photo by John Blaine/purchase photos at [email protected]).
at the break, the Spartans got it together late in the third quarter and rode the momentum into the
fourth.
Gaby Bennett exploded for all 18 of her points in the second half, getting a ton of baskets in transition;
while Stull scored all six of her points in the final quarter while playing in the post. She also had two
rebounds and a blocked shot while stepping up in the absence of forward Rebecca Lubitsky.
“Sometimes Stully has to do things she’s not ready to do,” coach Kristin Jacobs said of her ball
handling guard. “We get into some foul trouble in the post and the last couple games I’ve asked Stully
to step up in a spot she’s not as familiar with. It’s not her true spot but she’s stepped up.”
Yes she did, despite some trepidation at first.
“I’m like ‘A forward?’ because I’ve seen my height compared to other teams,” Stull said with a laugh.
“But I was like ‘All right, let’s do it, let’s try it.” So I went in there, I posted up, I got the ball and just tried
to go up as much as possible.”
It proved to make a difference, and her contributions were made possible thanks to a third-quarter
binge. Steinert (5-5) sleep walked through the first half and trailed by 10 at one point.
“I think it finally kicked in we need to step it up and really pull it together,” Stull said. “The first half we
looked really tired and looked like we didn’t want to be there. On paper we were supposed to win this
game but we went in with too much confidence.”
“I said to them ‘It’s gotta be the worst half of basketball we’ve played, it can only go up from here,’”
Jacobs said. “We just needed to get organized offensively and find a defense that works for us and
see who was working well today.”
WWPS (2-7) maintained a slight advantage through the first five minutes of the third quarter and still
led 27-22. Mariah “Carey” Greco then hit one of two foul shots, which seemed innocent at the time but
was actually the start of a 12-0 run that put the Spartans up 34-27 with six minutes to play.
Bennett had seven points in the binge on a jumper, three foul shots and a drive to the hoop, while
Brianna Dorner went 4-for-4 from the line. The Spartans forced six turnovers during the Pirates
drought.
“Sometimes defense leads to offense,” Jacobs said.
So does rebounding. Behind the Dorner sisters Tatiana (8 rebounds) and Brianna (7 points, 6
rebounds), along with Greco (12 points, 8 rebounds) leading the way, Bennett began to release when
a Pirate shot went up and her teammates found her with quick outlets.
The biggest offensive play of the night came with just over two minutes left. After a missed shot by
Steinert, the Spartans kept the ball alive, Stull grabbed it and went up for a bucket to put Steinert up
42-37.
“Someone tipped it,” Stull said. “It went right to me so I drove to the basket.”
“She didn’t stop playing after the shot,” Jacobs said. “She kept on the ball, got a tip and powered it on
up. That was a big play.”
It was very big. At that point WWPS was crawling back into it and could have made it a one-point
game or tied it had it gotten the rebound and converted. Instead, Stull’s basket was followed by two
Bennett fast break lay-ups and the Spartans had a secure 46-37 advantage with just over a minute
remaining.
“That’s part of how we play, and part of what Gaby does,” Jacobs said. “She’s very smart. A lot of the
times she gets offense by our good defense. She struggled to shoot the ball a little bit, I told her look
to go to basket, look to drive.”
She also told Stull to go do things that a forward does.
Both players followed orders, and the Spartans are back at .500 because of it.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores