FINAL APPROACH: Princeton Day School girls’ basketball player Shayla Stevenson drives to the hoop in a game earlier this season. Last Sunday, senior guard Stevenson scored five points in a losing cause as fifth-seeded PDS fell 72-34 at fourth-seeded Pennington in the opening round of the state Prep B tournament. The Panthers, who dropped to 7-13 with the defeat, host Delaware Valley on February 9 before starting play in the Mercer County Tournament. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Scrapping to the final whistle, the Princeton Day School girls’ basketball team outscored Pennington 12-9 in the fourth quarter last Sunday as the rivals met in the opening round of the state Prep B tournament.

But entering the final quarter trailing 63-22, that late surge by fifth-seeded PDS only narrowed the final margin to 72-34 as the defending champion and fourth-seeded Red Raiders took a major step in their bid to defend their title.

While disappointed by the result, PDS head coach Kamau Bailey had no qualms with the effort he got from his players.

“My girls have done a really good job this year of not giving up, they are fighters,” said Bailey. “We just started pressing in the fourth quarter; we changed our defense and tried to put a little pressure on them.”

PDS was put under pressure early on Sunday as a hot shooting Pennington squad jumped out to 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

“We had a hard time making shots,” said Bailey. “We were getting looks, we just weren’t hitting them. We missed a couple of layups early and, on the flip side, they were hitting everything.”

With the Panthers trailing 41-13 at intermission, Bailey urged his players to not give up.

“The message at halftime was telling the girls to keep playing, this game is not over,” said Bailey.

In the fourth quarter, PDS raised its game. “We set a goal in the fourth quarter to try to put some points up and to attack,” recalled Bailey, who got nine points from sophomore guard Brooke Smukler in the loss with juniors Ryan Robinson and Bridget Kane adding eight apiece.

“I told the girls we were shooting a lot of 3s and missing them so one of the things we needed to switch was to attack the basket a little bit. We just kept taking it to the hoop and we kept fighting. Defensively, we had a couple of good stops, which really helped us.”

In Bailey’s view, senior point guard Shayla Stevenson has helped PDS get into attack mode this winter.

“Shayla has been the point guard and a floor leader throughout her four years here,” said Bailey of Stevenson, who tallied five points in the defeat to Pennington.

“Wrapping up her career here is sad for me; she has given so much to the program and so much sacrifice as well. She struggled a little bit this game to hit some buckets but her overall leadership and ability to communicate, assess and read the game has really been helpful.”

Returning from a knee injury that has plagued her over the last few years, senior Alexis Davis has also provided leadership and intensity.

“Alexis has come back; she is our hustle person and she basically grabs a lot of rebounds,” added Bailey. “She is really aggressive defensively. She has put a lot of time in this year working on getting better as a shooter and she has seen some progress at that.”

With PDS hosting Delaware Valley on February 9 before starting play in the Mercer County Tournament, Bailey believes his team can keep progressing.

“It is more games, more experience,” said Bailey. “We want to try to surprise some people in the MCT, that is my thing. I thought if we had played really, really well today and had moved the ball and knocked down some shots, this would have been a different game.”