Dayton girls can't handle Fallon's pressure

DAYTON - When a team plays Dayton, the game plan is simple. Press, press and keep pressing.

The Dust Devils' girls team went without a field goal the entire second half and turned the ball over 32 times, which Fallon converted into 18 points en route to an easy 43-15 win Friday night in a Northern 3A game.

The loss dropped Dayton, which played without Taylor Hill (illness) to 6-12 overall under first-year coach Cliff Serawop.

Dayton has struggled mightily in recent weeks because of its inability to handle pressure.

The Dust Devils have had a hard time getting into their offense because of their problems handling the ball.

"Pressure has been our Achilles heel all season," Serawop said. "If we can't handle the pressure, the girls get all stressed out. We've played like that all year. They're panicking, and when we do get some shots they are off-balance because they are rushing them.

"Taylor has been out all week ill. When you miss one person, and its one of your bigs it shows. This was Erin's (Edison) first game back in two weeks. She had been in Europe for two weeks. When you don't have your big people it's tough to get the team motivated."

Dayton was competitive in the first half, trailing just 9-5 after the first quarter and 24-13 at the half.

A layup by Devlynn Lahair and a field goal by Maribel Ledezma cut Fallon's lead to 14-9 with 4:30 left in the first half.

Fallon outscored the Dust Devils 10-4 from that point, as Allie Venturracci scored four points to lead the way. Jenny Rechel added a putback, while Casey Lewin and Logan Faught chipped in two points .

The Greenwave maintained that momentum in the third quarter, as Rechel led an 8-0 run with four points to make it 32-13. Deborah Ply drained a free throw for Dayton's only score of the quarter.

Kaitlyn Jones scored two quick baskets after that to give Fallon a 36-14 lead after three. Dayton went 0-for-8 and turned the ball over nine times in the quarter.

Dayton's problems continued in the fourth quarter. The Dust Devils went 0-for-11 and turned the ball over seven times.

Fallon also struggled in the final quarter, but it didn't matter because of the big lead.

Lewin led Fallon with nine points, while Rechel added eight. Cady Cortes and Lena Wolf scored six apiece.

Ledezma and Amber Brooks led Dayton with four points apiece.