Lady Eagles beat Cougars; stay atop PVL

The Princeton High girls basketball team picked up another dominant Pioneer-Valley League victory on Tuesday, beating Paradise Adventist Academy 53-20 in Princeton.

Princeton (12-5, 4-0 PVL) is the only undefeated team in the first round of league games and dropped the Cougars (12-8, 3-2 PVL) into third place behind Redding Adventist.

Both teams started slow and the score was tied 2-2 after the first five minutes of the game, but the Eagles got their offense going and the Cougars made just 17 percent of their shots.

"We were getting a lot of shots from the elbows and the high post so we'll take that. You've got to love it when you make shots," Princeton coach Nate Odom said.

Maryssa Martin, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, had the hot hand early and led the Eagles to a 10-4 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Martin, a junior, averages 15.6 points and 13.5 rebounds a game.

"She's not huge but she just has a knack and great timing — she gets in there. What a lot of people don't notice is she starts the break because of her rebounds, she's big-time for us," Odom said.

The Eagles started the game short-handed, but Natalia Carreon and Lisa Ramirez stepped up in their opportunity to start and played great defense.

"I don't know how many points we had in the first quarter or first half but it was because those girls were playing great defense," Odom said.

Princeton forced the Cougars to put up off-balance shots from outside the paint and led 23-7 at halftime. As well as the Eagles played in the first half, they improved in the second half.

Senior forward Gaby Rodriguez scored six of her 14 points in the third quarter and the Eagles got Paradise Adventist into foul trouble. Princeton made 7 of 12 free throws in the quarter.

Junior guard Amanda Hansen scored a game-high 17 points, and added five assists, five steals, and two blocks.

Sophomore guard Arianna Ilhorreguy added four points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Eagles play at home on Tuesday against Providence (2-10, 1-3 PVL).

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.