CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - On Sunday, March 1, the Howlers Girls 6B team hosted Edgemont in the first round of the Tri-County playoffs. After a competitive opening stretch, the game quickly turned into a runaway.
Edgemont actually struck first, as Gabby Leto split a pair from the foul line. It would be the lower seed’s only lead of the afternoon.
At the 6:30 mark of the first quarter, the momentum began to shift — starting low to the ground. One of the team’s smallest players, Emily Insinga, kept a possession alive with two offensive rebounds. When the ball eventually found Ellie Worner, the big converted a baseline floater to put the Howlers on the board.
Insinga grabbed another offensive rebound on the next trip, and while that possession didn’t result in points, the tone had been set. Edgemont applied pressure to try to slow things down, but Ayla Hamlin calmly broke it and found Worner ahead for an easy layup.
“When they click, they are hard to beat,” coach Adam Giardini said.
The passing continued to shine. “The team depends on me to get them the ball,” said point guard Nova Ronnkvist, who delivered a baseline pass to an open Ellie Wein for a 6-1 lead.
Ronnkvist showed she could score as well. After Lilly Pershino found Worner on an inbound play for two, Ronnkvist went coast-to-coast and knocked down a jumper off the glass with 1:50 left in the quarter.
Edgemont briefly stayed within reach when Leto connected with Kira Lappea for an inbound layup, but the Howlers were just getting started. Ronnkvist found Hamlin alone underneath for two, and Hamlin returned the favor to Wein in the paint.
By the end of the first quarter, the lead had grown to 14-6 — and it only widened from there.
Worner opened the second quarter with a free throw, and Wein turned a steal into a coast-to-coast finish. Moments later, Pratley Walsh, surrounded by three defenders, calmly found Worner for another layup.
Worner dominated the boards. “I reach up to get the rebound and hold the ball over my head,” she said after a putback made it 21-6. She repeated the sequence shortly afterward, controlling the glass and extending the advantage.
With 3:26 left in the half, Wein helped put the game out of reach. She fed Hamlin cutting across the lane for two, hit a jumper from the foul line, and then turned a half-court steal into a fast-break basket by Insinga to close the half at 31-6.
The Howlers didn’t cool off after intermission.
Worner found Ronnkvist inside for two, and after drawing defenders to the baseline, Pershino kicked the ball back out to an open Walsh. The guard didn’t hesitate, knocking down the shot with a wide smile. “I don’t get baskets very often, so it was nice to get one,” Walsh said modestly.
Pershino added a free throw to cap a 27-0 run before Edgemont responded with nine straight points to open the fourth quarter. There was little urgency, however, as Ronnkvist answered with a putback and a steal-and-score sequence. Worner later added a three-pointer to put the finishing touches on the afternoon.
In the end, the 44-17 victory was easy to sum up.
“We won by a lot because we played together well,” said Wein.
Giardini agreed.
“They executed well, played well with great defense and everything,” he said.
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