Lady Blue Devils fall to Our Lady of Mercy

THG/Dan Russoman
Hammonton’s Brigette Alessandrini brings the ball up court as she is defender by Our Lady of Mercy Academy’s Ali Dandrea late in last week’s game. OLMA topped Hammonton 44-17.

NEWFIELD—Despite struggling through a tough rebuilding season that has seen it drop 15 of its first 16 games, Hammonton High School’s girls basketball team has continued to show improvement while playing against some of the area’s best programs.
While the Blue Devils have had more than their share of offensive troubles, they have managed to play solid defense throughout the season, and that effort has not gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
“We’ve played pretty well on the defensive end. I think part of the problem for us is that we exert so much energy on defense that it hurts us offensively,” assistant coach Eric Schulman said last week following a 44-17 defeat at Our Lady of Mercy Academy.
In that game, Hammonton held a solid scoring team to 44 points, but only managed to make six shots of their own, turning the ball over several times.
OLMA took advantage of Hammonton’s miscues, jumping out to a 12-2 first quarter lead.
Hammonton protected the ball better in the second quarter, when it was only outscored 11-6.
“We’re still going through the learning process. But the improvement is there and we’re getting better,” Schulman said.
Paige Mortellite scored a team-high seven points for Hammonton in the loss.
Schulman was coaching the Blue Devils because head coach Kevin Kretschy was home taking care of his wife and newborn baby.
In other action last week, Hammonton lost games to Buena and Ocean City.
Hammonton led Buena 9-8 after one quarter, but the host Chiefs used a 12-2 second quarter run to take control of the game and went to post a 40-24 victory.
Taylor Peyton scored 10 points to lead Hammonton, and Mortellite added seven.
Playing against one of the top teams in the Cape Atlantic League, Hammonton fell behind early to Ocean City and went on to drop a 49-17 decision.
The visiting Red Raiders led 18-4 after one quarter and cruised to the win.
Mortellite led Hammonton with nine points.
Earlier this week, the Blue Devils hosted both Overbrook and Bridgeton, but those games ended too late for this edition.