Krist sparks T-Girl comeback win over Vikes

Joelle Krist rimmed 19 points in the second half to pace the Petaluma T-Girls to a come from behind 53-45 win over visiting Montgomery in an early game on Saturday. The win was the second over a quality opponent in two nights for the surging T-Girls who posted a 47-42 victory at Hercules on the previous night.

Following a lackluster first half against Montgomery, and trailing, 19-15, Petaluma roared from behind, led by Krist. She came out aggressively on the offensive end to pace her club to a complete turnaround after the deficit ballooned to nine points.

Most of Krist’s offensive explosion came on strong drives to the baseline from the left side of the floor. Four baskets came on determined moves past Montgomery defenders, and the senior forward added a 3-pointer for good measure on an out of bounds play.

Krist sensed that scoring might be up to her in the late going and she kept the T-Girl attack going with a season high 29 points. “I noticed that they were not moving their feet quickly on defense so I took the chance of driving hard in the second half,” she said. “There weren’t very many fouls called, and they allowed a lot of contact.”

The scoring came on the heels of her 18-point effort against playoff contender Hercules the night before. Center Allison Scranton chipped in with 14 points in the East Bay victory. Hercules tied Richmond for the Tri-County Rock title last season.

Against Montgomery, the T-Girls battled back from the 24-15 deficit to outscore the Vikings, 19-5, to close out the third period. Kailee Silacci came off the bench to hit a couple of clutch baskets and Olivia Baldwin got untracked and added five points in the big comeback.

Guard Cassie Baddeley got good position to pull down six rebounds in the second half when things got rugged under the basket.

“I was happy with Cassie tonight,” said Petaluma coach Janelle Lombardi Robello, “She and Kailee (Silacci) gave us some good guard play under pressure.

“I think we had a couple of good games against some better teams,” the coach added. “Neither of them was a walkover. Against Hercules (7-3) we executed defensively and tonight the girls kept the scoring of the best Montgomery shooters under control.”

“Olivia Baldwin stepped up tonight, and I though we also got some good contributions from the bench. I feel that I can play everyone.”

Baldwin finished with nine points for Petaluma as the T-Girls won for the third consecutive game to raise their season record to 6-3. One 2-pointer came on a driving lay-up on a slick assist by Krist. Silacci finished with six points.

Freshman Shayla Newman kept Montgomery within a two possession chance of taking the lead with six points in the final stanza. Newman averages 10 points per contest.

The Lady Vikings (4-5) compounded their problems in the second half by getting into early foul trouble. Petaluma reached the double bonus early in the fourth period.

After a couple days break to observe the holiday season, the T-Girls will swing into action on Saturday when they face San Marin at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Novato Tournament.