Schools
Petty-Evans Nets 21 as Bridgewater Rally Falls Short
Panthers mount comeback from 19 down, but fall short
The Bridgewater-Raritan High School girls basketball team's fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 55-45 loss to Gil Saint Bernards Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals in Bridgewater.
FINAL
Gill Saint Bernards (20-4) 19 13 10 13 55 Bridgewater (13-10) 12 8 9 16 45IN SHORT
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Gill St. Bernards, ranked 15th by The Star-Ledger, was a tough mountain to climb for the Panthers. Bridgewater fell behind early with the tough defense of the Knights and on strong performances by Taylor Rooks and Dominigue Vitalis.
Down by as many as 19 points, the Panthers came back strong in the fourth quarter. Aggressive defense and a solid shooting performance by Denisha Petty-Evans, scoring 11 of her team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, the Panthers came back to within six points. But Rooks scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth to secure the win for the Knights.
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PANTHER OF THE GAME
Denisha Petty-Evans - Petty-Evans controlled the offense from the point and put the team on her shoulders in the fourth quarter, leading the Panthers with 11 of the teams 16 points in the period.
KEY PERFORMANCE
Mary Kronenwetter (Bridgewater) - Kronenwetter was tough in the paint and scored nine points for the Panthers; Taylor Rooks (Gill St. Bernards) - Rooks led all scorers with 23 points, leading the team when Dominique Vitalis was forced to sit due to foul trouble.
COACH'S TAKE
"They didn't give up. A lot of teams leave us for dead and our girls have been resilient all year as far as coming back. We started off the game, we put ourselves in a hole and it is tough when you play against a real good team to come back on them. When they were up by 19 points, that is really tough to come back from. But they whittled it down to six points, and that last play that we stole the ball underneath the basket, we make that play and we could have cut it to four, was the turning point of the game for us. The girls worked hard, they fought hard. I tip my hat to Gill Saint Bernards. They were the better team today. We have to move ahead right now. We are in the state tournament so we are looking at getting ourselves back on track." - Assistant coach Robert McGivney
UP NEXT - The Panthers host Hunterdon Central Tuesday, 7 p.m.
