These Five Impressed in State Tourney Early Rounds

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the state tournament in full swing, let's take a look at five performances from South Jersey that impressed me in the first and second rounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1201486' first='Kayla' last='Matos'] | Ranney</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>South Jersey, Non-Public B: 1st Round</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A fantastic all-court effort vs Moorestown Friends saw her tally a game-high [and career-high] 25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Three daggers from 3 and quick-hitting buckets in transition made up the bulk of her offense, while active hands flustered the ball at the perimeter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='600922' first='Trista' last='Whitney'] | St. Thomas Aquinas</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>South Jersey, Non-Public A: 1st Round</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What better way to kick off the playoffs than with a triple-double?! Trista powered STA to a dominant win over Immaculata with 15 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals. She was an absolute unicorn out there, scoring inside and out, crashing the glass hard, finding teammates and imposing her will on D.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1247945' first='Mia' last='Pratola'] | Southern</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>South Jersey, Group 4: 1st Round</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A balanced effort across the board saw the freshman tally 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and [a game-high] 5 steals in the very first postseason game of her HS career. She got crucial stops in a noteworthy defensive effort to help Southern squeak past Washington Township by 6. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1792454' first='Marley' last='Ostrander'] | Ocean City</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>South Jersey, Group 3: 1st Round</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A laser-focused, lockdown defensive effort tallied a career-high 9 steals and spearheaded 13th seeded Ocean City to pull off a stunning upset of 4th seeded Shawnee. She was in a zone in all aspects of the game, recording 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to accompany her ferocious effort on D.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1792461' first='Avery' last='Sinnes'] | Haddonfield</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>South Jersey, Group 2: 1st &amp; 2nd Rounds</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Avery's 15 points vs Barnegat and 14 points vs Collingswood are big reasons why the Bulldogs are in the quarterfinals. She's the only player on her team to tally double-figures in both games, with the latter coming in a narrow 5-point win. She banged in three big triples to spark a big second half surge for the come-from-behind dub.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->