RISING STAR: Princeton Day School girls’ basketball player Shayla Stevenson heads to the hoop in a game earlier this season. Last Thursday, sophomore guard Stevenson scored nine points in a losing cause as PDS fell 36-34 to Solebury School (Pa.). The Panthers, who fell to 5-13 with the defeat, are next in action when they compete in the Mercer County Tournament, where they are seeded 14th and will play at No. 3 Ewing in the opening round contest on February 20. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It was a frustrating first half for Shayla Stevenson and the Princeton Day School girls’ basketball team as they hosted the Solebury School (Pa.) last Thursday.

PDS trailed the Spartans 22-13 at halftime and sophomore guard Stevenson was scoreless.

As the Panthers met during the break, the emphasis was on playing harder. “We just had to make open shots,” said Stevenson. “We had to be more intense, we had to attack the basket more. One of their best players had four fouls so we had to attack her. We just had to be confident in our teammates.”

Minutes into the third quarter, Stevenson drained a long three-pointer from the corner that helped get her going.

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” said Stevenson. “Then my teammates having confidence in me and finding me when I was open was great.”

After outscoring Solebury 8-4 in the quarter to cut the deficit to 26-21, the Panthers turned the game into a nail-biter, forging ahead 34-32 with 3:20 left in regulation. PDS, though, never scored after that as it lost 36-34 in moving to 5-13.

“I definitely think we had good momentum,” said Stevenson. “(Bridget) Kane and I were shooting threes and Ryan Robinson was attacking the basket. Even though Ryan and I had three fouls each, we still played hard.”

Despite falling just short, the trio of Stevenson and freshmen Kane and Robinson showed that they have a bright future as Stevenson and Kane each ended up with nine points in the loss with Robinson adding eight.

“We are developing something; we are having a lot of chemistry,” said Stevenson. “That is one thing we are trying to work on in practice and in games, getting better team chemistry with team building and team bonding.”

Stevenson has put in a lot of work to build herself into a better player. “From last year to this year, I have tried to improve on my handle and my shot,” said Stevenson.

“Last year, my shot was a little bit off so coming into this year, I wanted to make a lot more threes and get open for teammates and just be there. Last year was really hard for me, because I had a lot on my shoulders.”

As the Panthers start play in the Mercer County Tournament this week, where they are seeded 14th and will play at No. 3 Ewing in the opening round contest on February 20, Stevenson believes they can build on their hard effort against Solebury.

“Going into MCTs, I think this is a good game to lead off from and we are going to just keep this momentum,” said Stevenson.

“I think the second half in this game is how we have to play the full game.”