By Kim J. Harmon

Setting the pace.

The collective offenses of the Pacers and the Bulls were not exactly scorching the nylon in the Junior Girls championship game last Saturday at the Reed Intermediate School (only two points were scored in the second period), but then … so what?

The Pacers set the pace and – after Natalie Villa popped in a short bucket in the first period – led this game virtually wire-to-wire (save for a 2-2 tie early in the first period) and defeated the Bulls, 23-17, to capture the Junior Division championship.

Villa and Lindsay Laub finished with eight points apiece while Hannah Basch-Gould had four to lead the Pacers. Erin Nemeth had eight points and Berenice Bryant chipped in with six points to lead the Bulls.

After Villa opened the game with a bucket for the Pacers, Meredith Letso tied it up with a basket of her own for the Bulls. But Gould and Bryant scored back-to-back baskets to stake the Pacers to a 6-2 lead.

Bryant pushed the Bulls to within two late in the first period, but Laub popped a shot in at the buzzer and the Pacers were clinging to an 8-4 lead.

Little would be accomplished offensively in the second period, but a lot of that was in large part due to the defensive efforts of players like Kelley Sullivan of the Bulls, who recorded a couple of thunderous blocks to keep the Pacers from scoring.

With 2:30 left in the half, Nemeth scored the lone basket of the period and pulled the Bulls to within two points at the half, 8-6.

But the offenses began to warm up in the third period and the Pacers took charge of the game. For Villa, it was a huge period as the dominating center scored six points, dished off a key assist, and dragged down eight rebounds to help expand her team’s lead from two points to as much as nine points.

Villa finished with 13 rebounds while Laub had six. Seven different Pacers dragged down at least four rebounds while the team combined for eight blocks.

Villa started the period with a bucket off a nice pass from Gould and after Nemeth answered with a bucket for the Bulls, Laub hit a baseline runner off a nice feed from Villa. Villa then scored back-to-back baskets (the second off a crisp pass from Annie Fletcher) to stake the Pacers to their largest lead of the game, 16-8.

Megan Sajovic answered back with a free throw to inch the Bulls to within seven, but then Ines Hutchinson canned a basket to put the Pacers up by nine, 18-9. Bryant, though, kept the game from getting out of hand and popped in two baskets (the second off a steal) to pull the Bulls to within five at the close of the third period, 18-13.

In the fourth period, though, the Pacers expanded their lead to 10 when Laub hit a baseline basket, Meagan Kelly canned a free throw, and Gould popped in a bucket. The 23-13 lead was a safe one, but the Bulls did chip a little off of it before the final buzzer when Nemeth scored successive baskets to close out the game.

PACERS (23) – Natalie Villa 8, Lindsay Laub 8, Hannah Basch-Gould 4, Ines Hutchinson 2, Meagan Kelly 1. BULLS (17) – Erin Nemeth 8, Berenice Bryant 6, Meredith Letso 2, Megan Sajovic 1.