FARMINGDALE — The Hall-Dale girls basketball team is finally fully healthy. Tuesday night it showed.
The Bulldogs went on a 19-1 run in the second quarter and cruised to a 56-30 Senior Night victory over Mountain Valley Conference rival Monmouth Academy at Penny Gym. Hall-Dale (15-3) earned its sixth straight victory and locked up the No. 1 seed in the Class C South tournament.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Hall-Dale senior forward Jade Graham. “We’re not going to play in this gym again, so we wanted to go out with a bang. Just having everyone back and playing together as a team was the main goal and we really took care of that tonight.”
Senior guard Torie Tibbetts led Hall-Dale with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Graham added 17 points.
Maeve Burgess scored 10 points for the Mustangs (10-8).
How did they do it?
Monmouth led 13-12 after the first quarter, thanks in part to a 7-0 run, while Hall-Dale had some early shooting woes.
That all changed in the second quarter. The Bulldogs fought back with a heavy dose of Tibbetts, who scored eight of her 19 points in the quarter. Hall-Dale also at one point had a 13-0 run. By halftime, the Bulldogs had a 31-14 lead.
“I think we all just kind of realized that this was our last chance to play on this court, and one of our last chances to play together, and we really wanted to be there for each other,” Tibbetts said.
Hall-Dale took its foot off the gas slightly in the second half but never looked back. Graham scored nine of her 17 in the fourth quarter to ice the win.
“We knew Monmouth was a scrappy team, so we weren’t taking anything for granted,” Hall-Dale coach Laurie Rowe said. “I thought there were times where our girls played really, really well together. We just need to keep putting those games together.”
Standing on a ladder, Hall-Dale senior Torie Tibbetts takes her name off the lineup board during senior night festivities before Tuesday’s game against Monmouth Academy in Farmingdale. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Key moment
More like key quarter. The second quarter was the game for Hall-Dale. The Mustangs continued to fight throughout the second half, forcing eight turnovers, but simply didn’t have the offense to mount a comeback. Burgess scored eight in the first quarter but scored just one bucket in the second half.
“I think they just had more trust and started playing together and moved the ball better (in the second quarter),” Rowe said. “Once they start playing for each other, there’s a huge difference.”
What does it mean?
The Bulldogs get a major shot of confidence by entering the C South tournament as the No. 1 seed. Just a month ago, it didn’t seem like this would be a possible for the defending regional champions, who at one point had no subs on the bench due to injury and illness. For a period of time, both Graham and Tibbetts were out of the lineup with injuries.
“We’ve definitely faced a lot of adversity,” Tibbetts said. “I really just want to give credit to the girls who were there the whole time. We were out with injury, and we owe a lot of credit to them. They’ve done some pretty amazing things for this team, and they shouldn’t go unnoticed.”
Hall-Dale is now back to full strength, with subs on the bench who received key regular-season minutes that could prove handy during the tournament.
Monmouth had a tough back end to its schedule, going 1-3 in its final four games, including two losses to Hall-Dale. However, as of Tuesday night, it appeared the Mustangs locked up the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
They said it
“This was the time to pick it up and really drive the point home that we are good team, we have a lot of players, and we all trust each other, and we want to win.” — Jade Graham
“It has definitely been a huge challenge this season. At one point, we were down to four girls, with sickness and injuries. To fight through that, after losing (44-37 on Jan. 15) to Mt. Abram, they came back and won another couple of games, even though they weren’t feeling their best. We somehow pulled through and stayed together as a team. I think that helps where we are right now (as the No. 1 seed).” — Laurie Rowe
Statistical leaders
Hall-Dale: Torie Tibbetts (19 points, 13 rebounds), Jade Graham (17 points).
Monmouth Academy: Maeve Burgess (10 points).
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