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.

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