T-Girls wake up in time to drop SV

Petaluma snapped back from a lethargic first-half effort to overwhelm the feisty St. Vincent girls, 51-33, in the DeCarli Gym on an early Saturday evening last week.

The T-Girls trailed, 17-12, at halftime, and were outplayed in every phase of the game until the big turnaround beginning in the third stanza.

Twin post players Kelsey Martin and Jaden Krist dominated play on the glass with a flurry of rebounds and put-backs as the T-Girls put 20 points on the board, and they completely took the play away from the hustling Lady Mustangs later in the game. Together they scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds in the third stanza.

St. Vincent stayed in the hunt on the scoring and rebounding of sophomore Allesandra Ditizio. The rangy Ditizio finished with six rebounds and 13 points, including three shots from beyond the arc. The young player showed a great deal of promise in mixing things up on the boards as well.

The Mustangs were able to get some open looks outside by Sully Henry because of the fast passing in the interior by veteran player Clare Galten, who flashed the post and found open shooters on the perimeter. Henry had 10 points in the game, with eight coming in the first half.

St. Vincent had a solid game plan in attacking the middle with kick-out passes by the efficient Galten. Most of the Mustang attack was forced to the right side of the court by the T-Girl defenders.

While Martin and Krist had their way underneath, it was the spark provided by energetic sophomore Sheriene Arikat that was the difference in the ball game. As she has done in all of the pre-league games for the T-Girls, Arikat found a way to attack the basket when given the opportunity.

Arikat was limited to only a single free throw in the first half in limited playing time off the Petaluma bench. The second half was a different matter as the hustling sophomore picked off two passes and drove the length of the floor for buckets. Overall, she finished with 15 points to pace all scorers.

T-Girl coach Jon Ratshin had no excuses for the sluggish play of his club in the first half. Petaluma was in danger of losing its third consecutive game, and the second to a crosstown opponent.

“We were cold and had no energy out there,” he said. “Martin played her best game of the season so far, and seemed to be the only one in the first half with any activity. Normally she misses a lot of shots early in the game, but not tonight.”

Martin and Krist tossed in 10 points each for Petaluma and got solid passing support from Nichole Costa, who had four assists despite not scoring in the first half.

Petaluma opens the Tamalpais Tournament on Thursday against California High School of the East Bay.

It was the second defeat of the week for the Lady Mustangs of first-year coach Shannon Carroll, who lost earlier to Casa Grande, 54-32. However, they competed well with both of the bigger public schools. St. Vincent hosts San Dominico on Dec. 22.