Pinkerton girls basketball comes back twice to beat Dover (video)

DERRY - Emily Leonard has a well-defined role for the Pinkerton Academy girls basketball team this year.

Friday night against Dover, that role put her center stage for the Astros.

With Pinkerton frustrated most of the night by the Green Wave's zone defense, Leonard hit six 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter to give the Astros momentum, as they rallied for a 51-49 win against Dover in a Division I game.

The Pinkerton sophomore finished with 20 points while freshman Brooke Benz was also in double figures with 13 points. Liz Lavoie added six points, as Dover focused its defense on taking the Astros' leading-scorer out of the game.

"They did a great job on Liz," Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey said. "They tried to take her out of the game and called upon my other girls. We tell (Leonard) that her job is that she’s the dirt dog and she shoots 3s. She was the dirt dog and she scored us some 3s."

At the other end, Buskey gave Benz the assignment of guarding Dover's Lily Nossiff, and despite the sophomore scoring 23 points, the Astros coach felt good about that matchup after the game. Benz also had a putback with about 40 seconds left that put Pinkerton (8-2) in front for good.

"I called upon our freshman, Brooke Benz, who is growing into a great player," Buskey said. "I said I’m challenging you and I put her on (Nossiff) and I thought she did a good job on her. That rebound and back up gave us the lead. I think she kind of came into her own."

The game also had some controversy at the end, as Pinkerton received consecutive held-ball possessions in the final minute, the second of which helped the Astros keep the ball in the final 10 seconds. Kaylee Dupuis hit two free throws after that call to give Pinkerton a three-point lead.

Payton Denning added 10 points for Dover (7-3) and Abigail Kozlowski had nine points while Tory Vitko recorded seven, but the Green Wave was just 12 of 22 at the free throw line.

Both teams got off to a slow start before Pinkerton pulled in front on three straight 3-pointers, two from Leonard, as the Astros led 15-10 at the end of the first quarter.

"I was practicing before this and my shot was kind of off, and I was getting frustrated," Leonard said of the early shots. "I was working on what I can do to make them go in. (Friday) I was focusing on making them and keeping my head high when I missed. The first two set me up for a good rest of the game. In my head, it made me happy I made them and pushed me through the rest of the game."

Pinkerton still had a five-point lead, 21-16, with 2:46 remaining in the half, but Dover's defense kept the Astros from scoring the rest of the way, as the Green Wave ended the half with a 7-0 run. Vitko missed the front end of a one-and-one with 8.1 seconds to go, but Denning came up with the rebound and put it back to make it 23-21 Dover at the break.

The Green Wave held the lead throughout the third quarter, going up 31-24 on a 3-pointer by Denning with 3:26 to go in the frame. The Astros came back on an 8-2 run, cutting the lead to one, 33-32, on a 3 by Leonard with 38.9 seconds left.

After two free throws by Nossiff gave Dover a three-point lead, a putback by Benz at the buzzer made it 35-34 to end the third. Leonard hit another 3 to open the fourth and then added one more to give Pinkerton a 40-36 lead.

But the Green Wave came right back, as Nossiff hit a jumper on the next possession, starting a 12-3 run that gave Dover a 48-43 lead with 2:53 to play. Nossiff had nine points on the run, including a 3 off an offensive rebound by Denning, capping the run and forcing Pinkerton to take a timeout.

"I called a timeout and said you can’t hang your heads," Buskey said. "This is the moment where you define yourselves. You’ve got to get your head up and play your game, and I thought they went out with some confidence."

Dupuis hit a 3-pointer out of the time out to get Pinkerton within two, 48-46, but the teams exchanged turnovers on the next handful of possessions before Lavoie made the second of two free throws with 1:23 to play to gut the Dover lead to one.

A 3-point attempt by Kozlowski on the next possession was off the mark and the ball was tied up on the rebound, with the arrow pointing Pinkerton's way with 49.9 seconds left. The Astros took a timeout and Benz gave them the lead, 49-48, with her second-chance basket with 39.1 remaining.

The Green Wave got the ball down the floor in a hurry, but couldn't get a good look and took a timeout with 18.7 remaining. Nossiff's shot after the timeout was off the mark and Benz was fouled after coming down with the rebound with 10.4 seconds to go.

With Dover in the double bonus, Benz got two free throws, but missed them both and the rebound was tied up again. The officials called it a held ball with 8.3 seconds left, but the possession arrow was still pointing Pinkerton's way. After a discussion with the scorer's table, the ball stayed with the Astros.

Dover fouled right away, and this time, Dupuis hit both free throws to give Pinkerton a 51-48 lead with 6.4 seconds left. The Green Wave used a timeout with 1.7 remaining, and to keep Dover from attempting a 3, the Astros fouled Nossiff with 0.2 on the clock. She made the first and intentionally missed the second, but Pinkerton came down with the rebound as time expired.

"This was a good win for us in the sense that we’d been hanging our heads at times," Buskey said. "They were frustrated and I’m trying to teach them, it’s a game of frustration, it’s a game of runs on both ends.

"That last two-minute sequence, we played well as a team. We did the right things at the right times and we played as a team. I think this is probably our most important win."