Girls basketball: Turnovers plague Amherst in loss to Normandy

AMHERST — Amherst just can't shake the turnover monster right now. After a brilliant first eight minutes with only two turnovers while holding an two-point lead over Normandy, the Invaders turned up the defense to force 22 turnovers over the next three periods and allow only 23 points in a 67-41 non-conference win. "Amherst really had a nice first quarter and we knew we had to rotate better and get pressure on them," said Normandy coach Anthony Schmook, who is a former Wellington coach. "We knew that if we got our defense going it would turn into offense." The Invaders (8-5) had no early answer for Amherst's Abby Broaddus and Sara Hussein-Bey, who were dominant in the first period. Broaddus scored six points to go with a couple steals, and Hussein-Bey scored eight of her team-high 13 points and grabbed five of her rebounds. "That was a nice team to watch in that first quarter," Amherst coach Dave Zvara said. "Early in the season, we were playing like that and had games we could have won. I asked the girls, 'Where is that team now that can do it for four quarters?'" The Comets (3-8) led 20-19 early in the second quarter, following a Callie Beckler (10 points) layin, but Normandy's Lindsey Meriwether helped take control of the game, scoring seven of her game-high 20 points, as the Invaders finished the first half on a 12-4 run to go up 31-24. Amherst had a bad combination of turnovers and a 3-for-13 (23 percent) shooting effort in the third with Hussein-Bey accounting for two of the buckets in the paint, and Amalee Caldera ended a nearly four-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. The Invaders only had five field goals in the quarter, but four of them were from behind the 3-point arc, as Sofia Szymczak hit a pair early, Allison Pollack drained one just inside the four-minute mark and Ziley Minoch (17 points) beat the buzzer for a 45-31 lead after three quarters. Normandy went on a 17-0 run in the fourth period that was fueled by three 3-pointers by Giana Carciopollo and four points by Minich that sent the starting five to the bench. The Amherst bench played well in the closing minutes with an 8-0 run, getting four points from Callie Beckler and two points each by Libby Vidovich and Sarah Iliff. "We are really having a lot of unforced turnovers," Zvara said. "They really shot the ball well, but we had opportunities and just didn't make our shots." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. NORMANDY 67, AMHERST 41 NORMANDY (67): Christina Dell'Annon 0-1-1, Giana Carciopollo 3-0-9, Ziley Minich 7-1-17, Lindsay Meriwether 7-4-20, Allison Pollock 4-0-11, Keilei Anderson 1-0-2, Sofia Szymczak 2-1-7. Totals 24-7-67. AMHERST (41): Sarah Iliff 1-0-2, Amalee Caldera 1-0-3, Libby Vidovich 1-0-2, race Bender 1-0-2, Callie Beckler 5-0-10, Alaina Alflen 0-0-0, Abby Broaddus 3-0-6, Morgan Lymer 1-1-3, Sarai Hussein-Bey 6-1-13. Totals 19-2-41. Normandy 16 15 14 22 — 67 Amherst 18 6 7 10 — 41 Three-point goals: Normandy 12-31 (39 percent, Carciopollo 3, Pollock 3, Minich 2, Meriwether 2, Szymczak 2), Amherst 1-12 (8 percent, Caldera). Field goals: Normandy 24-55 (44 percent); Amherst 19-54 (35 percent). Free throws: Normandy 7-8 (88 percent); Amherst 2-8 (25 percent). Rebounds: Normandy 25, Amherst 43 Turnovers: Normandy 14, Amherst 24 Junior varsity: Normandy, 45-29