YARMOUTH — Yarmouth overcame a poor first half and rallied for a 47-36 win against Lincoln Academy in a Class B South girls’ basketball game Friday night.
It was the fourth consecutive win for the Clippers, who trailed 14-9 at halftime.
“It was a very lousy first half,” Yarmouth Coach Chris Strong said. “We had no offense. We didn’t move the ball well. We were getting a lot of good looks. We were just cold.”
The Clippers (6-2) hit just 3 of 27 shots in the first half.
“We definitely were a little discouraged only having nine points in the first half,” said Alison Clark, a senior forward. “We were taking good shots; they just weren’t falling. The thought was we just needed to keep shooting. They will fall, and they did in the second half.”
Yarmouth did change its approach, however.
“We knew we had to get the ball in the middle more in order to distribute the ball to the guards,” Strong said.
The inside-out game, which featured Clark in the post, helped the Clippers find their offensive groove.
“We started to swing (the ball) and get really good looks,” said Cory Langenbach, a senior guard. “We did that more in the second half.”
Yarmouth also got a lift from its bench. Ceanne Lyon, a sophomore forward, subbed into the game and hit back-to-back jumpers in the final minute of the third quarter to give the Clippers a 27-25 lead.
Yarmouth then reeled off a 9-1 run early in the fourth quarter to pull away. The Clippers sank 11 of 16 free throws and committed just one turnover in the final eight minutes.
“This was a very aggressive (Lincoln Academy) team,” Strong said. “They’re a good defensive team, and it was really about taking care of the ball.”
Lincoln Academy, which reached the regional final last season, dropped to 3-4.
“We talked about keeping the score in the 20s, but it was really a tremendous defensive letdown in the second half,” Lincoln Coach Kevin Feltis said. “We fell apart. We were really undisciplined in the second half, defensively.”
Brie Wajer scored 15 points for the Eagles, but Yarmouth shut everyone else down.
“They move well in the zone when they play a zone defense,” Feltis said. “They get out and got a hand in our face. They boxed out well.”
“We kept on mixing it up with the zone and with the box,” Clark said. “That kind of threw them off and kept their points low, which helped us when we were trying to come back.”
Sara D’Appolonia, a junior guard, scored 11 points for the Clippers, with all but two after halftime. Clark scored eight of her 10 points in the second half.
“Yarmouth is a good team,” Feltis said. “They’re a team on the rise. They’re well-coached and they do a real nice job.”
“We are a well-balanced team,” Strong said. “We are getting to the point in our season where we’re (playing) a lot of teams that are comparable, so it’s a good test of where our weaknesses are and (finding out) the things we need to do to get to the tournament.”
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