Columbia routs Pottstown, snaps 0-9 skid and earns 1st win this season in Warwick Holiday Tournament consolation game
Columbia coach Lisa Tomsheck was heading for the celebratory locker room Saturday night when she passed a familiar face in a hallway deep inside Warwick’s gymnasium.
“Finally,” she said, flashing a smile. “It’s about time.”
It took 10 games, but the Crimson Tide is finally in the win column.
Columbia cracked its nine-game losing streak to open the season, pasting Pottstown 61-35 in the consolation game of the Warwick Holiday Tournament.
It was a balanced attack by the Tide, which grabbed an incredible 64 rebounds and forced Pottstown to turn the ball over 27 times.
Erica Gilbert, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had 16 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. She was a major pest on both ends of the court, poking steals and stealing rebound after rebound against taller post players despite her 5-4 frame.
Meredith Wagner scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and she pulled down 11 rebounds.
Emily Nobile scored all 16 of her points in the first half, when the Tide used a 20-9 second-quarter spurt to grab a 28-20 lead at the break – Columbia’s first lead at halftime this season. There’s a stat for you.
And Gen Afari chipped in with 8 points and she yanked down 13 rebounds for the Tide, which improved to 1-9 overall.
Longest losing streak in the L-L League so far this season … over.
“It’s nice to know what a win feels like, and we really needed a win to bring our whole team together,” said Gilbert, who grabbed 10 boards in the second half alone.
“We’ve been struggling,” she said. “Hopefully we can use this game as a building block.”
Columbia didn’t exactly get off to a flying start on Saturday. Pottstown, which fell to Palmyra 72-28 in the first round of the Warwick Holiday Tournament on Friday, raced out to an 11-0 lead midway through the first quarter, and it looked like the Crimson Tide were destined to go to 0-10.
The Trojans’ 6-foot center Shantae Savage, scored 9 points and hauled in nine rebounds in the first quarter, and the Tide had no answers for her. But Savage picked up her second foul early in the second quarter and spent the rest of the first half on the pine.
Columbia took advantage, erasing that 11-0 deficit toot sweet.
“I wasn’t very happy when it was 11-0, but I knew our kids weren’t going to go out that way,” Tomsheck said.
They didn’t.
With Pottstown parked in a box-and-1 on Gilbert, the Tide turned to Nobile, who started the comeback with a 3-pointer, and then she hit four field goals in the second quarter, when Columbia seized control for good.
“The first-half spark was Emily stepping up and hitting some shots,” Tomsheck said. “She was able to hit from the outside, and she was also able to drive to the basket and finish her shots. That was a huge spark right there.”
And when Pottstown junked its box-and-1 on Gilbert and concentrated on Nobile, Gilbert got hot from the field – and on the boards, where she plucked anything and everything.
“Erica was a spark with her rebounding and just flat-out hustle,” Tomsheck noted. “They had a box-and-1 on Erica and then Emily stepped up. Then they put the box-and-1 on Emily and Erica was able to use her speed and athletic ability to beat that.”
Gilbert scored in a variety of ways, including several drives to the bucket thanks to her speed.
“She’s a bundle of energy,” Tomsheck said of Gilbert, who is a track star for the Tide in the spring.
With Nobile and Gilbert doing damage on the perimeter, Wagner and Afari cleaned up in the paint, helping the Tide get those 64 rebounds.
Tomsheck said she challenged her team to step up in the rebounding department after reading a quote from a Warwick player after the Warriors’ plucked 44 boards in their win over Columbia the night before.
“I gave them the quote from (Warwick forward) Casey Mitchell,” Tomsheck said. “She said that rebounding was all heart, and that if you don’t want the rebound, you’re not going to get the rebound. That’s the truth. When I saw that I printed up 13 copies, highlighted the quote, and gave it to every girl on the team.”
Message received.
Those 64 rebounds included a boatload of second-chance baskets on O, and a good chunk of the D boards led to Columbia running the other way behind Gilbert or point guard Laura Gambler, who chipped in with a pair of third-quarter buckets.
Next thing you know, the Tide went from down 11-0 early and down 11-8 after the first quarter to up by eight at the half and up 43-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
Columbia outscored Pottstown 18-6 and out-rebounded the Trojans 20-9 in the fourth quarter alone.
“I know a lot of people have been underestimating us, but I also know that we’re a lot better than our record,” Gilbert said. “And now we finally showed that we really can do this. It’s been pretty frustrating around here, so we’re hoping this game helps us move forward. We have a really good team and we know we can all play well. Now we need to take this win and build on it. We’re hoping this win helps us.”
After an 0-9 start, any win is a good win.
NOTES: Columbia turned the ball over just 12 times. … Savage, who picked up her third foul on Pottstown’s first trip of the third quarter, finished with a team-high 9 points and 11 boards. … Pottstown plucked 53 rebounds, which is also a ton.
