Falmouth Academy Girls Decisive in Victory Over Host St. John Paul II Lions

HYANNIS — Freshman Kendall Currence didn’t even break a sweat.

With a sort of ineffable confidence, Currence lit up the St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School gymnasium last night for a game-high 19 points and paced her Falmouth Academy team to a

Falmoth Academy’s Clemmie Pring sank a pair of key free throws in the game’s last minute to help seal the 43-37 win.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports

resounding, 43-37 win over the host St. John Paul II Lady Lions (10-2). The visiting Mariners are now 12-2 on the season and exacted revenge upon the Lions after a tough 41-40 loss two weeks ago at home.

While Currence’s only output in the first quarter was a pair of free throws, no less than five of her teammates scored to pick up the slack. Taylor Mulhearn (4 pts., 8 rebs.), Eliza Van Voorhis (6 pts., 10 rebs.), Jane Early (6 pts., two three-pointers), Christie Brake (2 pts., five rebs.) and Charlotte Van Voorhis (2 pts. 3 rebs.) all contributed to building an astounding, 13-4 first quarter lead that the Mariners would never relinquish.

By halftime, Falmouth Academy led the Lions, 23-12 and 30-19 after the third quarter.

Indeed, though, the Lady Lions came roaring back in a rough-and-tumble fourth quarter that witnessed Lions’ sophomore guard Olivia Bengston drain three three-pointers while teammate Haylee Whiteley hit one and a field goal.

While it appeared that Falmouth Academy outhustled the host Lions to a degree in the first three frames, it was the inside game that the Mariners took control of in the early-going that really spelled trouble for the Blue & Gold.

Using a 1-2-2 shuffle and slide zone defense, Falmouth Academy made it very difficult for St. John Paul II to work the ball inside to junior center Tori Gibson. The Mariners’ defensive effort resulted in no less than seven turnovers for the host team.

On the other end, the Mariners’ confidence to the basket put the top-tier St. John Paul II girls on their heels. All totaled, Falmouth Academy went to the line 21 times in this affair and shot

Falmouth Academy’s Charlotte Van Voorhis tries to inbound the ball past St. John Paul II’s Haylee Whiteley.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports

11-21 while the Lions went 1-4 from the line for the entire game.

The win for Gus Adams’ Mariners could very well spell out which team ultimately is crowned the 2014-15 Cape & Islands League championship title should the Mariners win out and St. John Paul II falls in any of its remaining league contests. As of last night, Falmouth Academy and St. John Paul II are tied atop the Cape & Islands League standings and have split their match-ups this season.

Bengston led St. John Paul II with 12 points on the day, including her aformentioned trifecta of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Haylee Whiteleye had 11 points. Gibson added a gutsy eight points and point guard Jess Tierney notched six points, including a gym-erupting three-point buzzer-beater from near halfcourt at the close of the first half.

Always in the thick of the fight, the Lions narrowed the visitors’ lead to just four points at 39-35 with 1:09 left in the game. The Mariners’ Clemmie Pring, however, sank a pair of free throws that helped keep the Lions at bay.

Ahead just 42-37 with 30.3 seconds left in the game, the Lions were forced to foul to stop the clock. Currence got hacked at mid-court and went to the line to drain a pair of freebies to seal the win.

Falmouth Academy welcomes Cape Cod Academy tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 4) for a 5:30 start.

St. John Paul II faces Barnstable at 6:30 pm on Thursday, Feb. 5.