To view game action photos of Monday night’s Central Bucks South/Central Bucks West game, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Some players are defined by their ability to put points on the board, others by their style of play.
Laura Duffy falls into the latter category, and according to Central Bucks South coach Beth Mattern, the Titans’ senior captain is the heart of her team.
“What make Laura so effective are the intangibles she brings – the things you don’t see on a stat sheet,” the Titans’ coach said. “Heaven forbid she has a turnover – she’s running down the court to get that ball back.
“She’s our best defensive player and is really the heart of the team.”
Mattern went on to recount a sequence in Monday night’s 63-29 win over Central Bucks West that typified the kind of effort she has come to expect from her senior captain.
“At one point, Laura was all over the court on the defensive end, tipping the ball loose,” the Titans’ coach said. “She has so much energy going up the court. She loses her balance and is still able to flick the ball up the court to her teammate to have an open layup before she travels.
“There really aren’t stats for the effort that Laura consistently puts out on the court.”
One stat in Monday’s win that does tell the story of Duffy’s effectiveness was the fact that she had six steals in a first half that saw the Titans sprint to a 25-9 lead. She played only a portion of the third quarter in the second half and added another steal to her total.
“Every coach I have had since I was little has always said that defense wins games,” Duffy said. “I’ve always thought about that whenever I play.
“To me, it feels good to score, but it feels just as good to have a good steal or have an assist. I always try to bust my butt on defense.”
That effort does not go unnoticed.
Mattern pointed to the defensive effort of Duffy against Altoona star Shelby Reimer in the holiday tournament.
“At the end of the game, Shelby said flat out that Laura played the best defense on her that anyone has ever played,” the South coach said. “She really takes it personally and tries to catapult us with her defense. She’s just so aggressive, and I think she takes a lot of pride in her defense.
“She has the ability to score. She also has the ability to make a fantastic pass that will set her teammate up perfectly. She’s a point guard. She’ll set you up, but she’ll also finish if she has the opportunity.”
While Duffy provides a steadying influence at point, the Titans are also getting contributions from some young players. Sophomores Nicole Mummert and Brittany Kaewell both contributed 11 points in Monday’s win.
“They work so hard every day,” Mattern said. “Brittany matches up against Laura (Duffy) most days at practice, so they’re practicing against some nice players.
“They’re just really coming along. They’re getting more confident every day, they’re starting to see more playing time, and they’re raising their level of play. Tonight was the most playing time they’ve seen, and they really stepped up and showed they want to play and they’re ready.”
As a result of Monday’s win, the Titans (6-5) evened their league mark at 3-3 after starting the season 1-3.
It was not the kind of beginning the defending National Conference co-champs were expecting in their first season in the Continental Conference.
“Everyone was talking about how we would be good because we didn’t lose a lot of people,” Duffy said. “This year this has been a lot of drama, and it’s been tough,”
Duffy pointed to the Titans’ 49-44 overtime win against archrival Abington in a game South trailed by double digits most of the way as the turning point.
“Even though they didn’t have Emily Leer, it was a big win for us,” the Titans’ captain said. “It proved to ourselves we shouldn’t count ourselves out.
“Ever since then we’ve been going to practice and working hard. We have juniors and sophomores starting to step up, and we’re starting to play much better as a team instead of everyone worrying about themselves and how many points they’re scoring.”
The Titans have won four of their last five games.
“We have a really tough schedule coming up, but I feel like we’re ready to go,” Duffy said. “Everyone is ready to work hard.”
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 63, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 29
Central Bucks West (29) – Gilmore 0 0-2 0, Ross 1 6-6 8, Kimberley 1 0-0 3, Vazquez 2 0-2 4, Jurema 2 2-4 7, Mahalich 0 2-2 2, Blanchard 1 0-0 2, Colloi 1 0-0 3. Totals 8 10-16 29.
Central Bucks South (63) – Schneider 1 0-0 3, Duffy 2 0-0 4, Miller 4 1-3 9, Mummert 4 3-6 11, Kaewell 5 0-0 11, Reynolds 2 2-2 6, Schaefer 2 0-0 4, Voss 2 1-2 5, Holbert 2 2-2 6, Inverso 1 2-2 4. Totals 25 11-17 63.
Central Bucks West 2 7 8 12-29
Central Bucks South 13 12 20 18-63
Three-point goals: Kimberley, Jurema, Colloi, Kaewell, Schneider.
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