Johnston outlasts Westerly in battle of unbeatens

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The Johnston Lady Panthers beat the Westerly Bulldogs at home on Friday night in a battle of two undefeated teams. Johnston got a big game out of junior Jordan Moretti, who went on a tear in the second half, putting up 19 of her game-high 24 points.

Johnston got some help from two sophomores, as well. Amelia Moore scored eight points and Bianca Robbins added seven. Westerly’s Arianna Fort led her team with 12 points.

The Panthers’ superb defense late in the game helped them earn the victory.

“Defense and execution wins the games,” Johnston head coach Chris Corsinetti said. “We didn’t hit our free throws most of the game, but somehow we overcame it. We got them in foul trouble, which was a good thing.”

Johnston was able to foul out two of Westerly’s bigs – Fort and Alisa Haik.

Moretti started the game cold before eventually heating up in the second half. Midway through the first half, the guard stopped settling for jump shots, and instead took it to the basket.

“My shot wasn’t falling in the first half, so I knew that I had to do something,” Moretti said.

Westerly struck first when Fort hit a turnaround jumper. Moments later, Moretti drilled a 3-pointer to put the Panthers up 3-2. A layup from Fort put Westerly up three. Free throws from Johnston’s Robbins and Lauren Civetti cut it to one. Next, a lay-in from Westerly sophomore Isis Hamelin put Westerly up 8-5. On Johnston’s next possession, sophomore Julianna Zalewski assisted to Moretti for a bucket, cutting it to 8-7.

Johnston went up one when sophomore Gabriella DiRaimo got it inside to Moore, who was fouled near the basket. Moore made both free throws. The Panthers extended their lead to 12-8 when Moretti dished to Howe, who found Zalewski wide open under the net for an easy layup.

Moments later, Westerly senior guard Abigail Murdock hit a jumper to pull Westerly within 13-10. Then, Westerly inched closer when Hamelin came up with a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup. With 2:25 left in the half, Lauren Dobson put Westerly up one when she banged a 3 ball. Then, Westerly went up three when Hamelin and Natalie Ritacco went 2-for-4 at the charity stripe.

Johnston responded. Moretti came slashing down the lane and threw up a layup that missed, but Moore was there for the putback, pulling Johnston within 17-16. With only seconds remaining before the break, Robbins deflected a pass from Westerly’s Hamelin and Moretti went the other way on a fastbreak and evened it at 18 with a layup.

Westerly scored first in the second half when Dobson went inside to Haik for a layup. On Westerly’s next possession, Victoria Carreiro buried a 3-pointer to go up three. Then, Abigail Murdock hit a jumper to put Westerly up 25-20.

But, Johnston would climb back. Moretti grabbed a defensive rebound and heaved it to Caroline Howe for a layup, cutting it to 25-22. Moments later, Moretti took advantage of a Westerly turnover, this time taking it herself for a breakaway layup while getting fouled. Moretti made the free throw and Johnston trailed by two with 12:19 left in the game.

A little later, Westerly took a 32-29 lead when Carreiro passed inside to Fort for a layup. Johnston struck back when DiRaimo fed Howe for a layup, cutting the deficit to one. However, a corner 3 from Hamelin put Westerly up four with 8:07 left to play. Westerly went up six when Murdock hit a jumper.

On Johnston’s next possession, Moretti was fouled by Haik. Moretti went to the charity stripe, drained a pair of free throws and Johnston trailed 37-33 with 7:22 to play.

Corsinetti was upset about a no-call and was hit with a technical foul. Fort went to the line as a result and made 1-of-2 shots to put Westerly up five.

Moretti took it to the hole and got fouled by Carreiro. She made both free throws and cut it to three.

With 4:41 left to play, Moretti was fouled again while driving to the net. She hit both foul shots, pulling Johnston within one. A minute later, an inbounds pass went to Westerly’s Fort and she converted a layup to put Westerly up three.

Johnston responded. Moretti passed inside to Moore for a bucket and got the Panthers within 43-41. Seconds later, Moretti was hit while driving to the basket. She made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 43 with 1:40 to play.

With 47 seconds to play, Moretti may have made her biggest play of the night. The junior standout took a charge from Hamelin, giving Johnston the ball. Moretti then heaved the inbounds pass down the court to a sprinting Robbins, who caught it and made a layup while getting fouled. Robbins sank the free throw and gave Johnston a 46-43 lead with 40 seconds left.

On Westerly’s next possession, Hamelin’s pass sailed out of bounds with 20 seconds to play. Westerly immediately fouled Moretti, who made two at the line to extend the Johnston lead to 48-43.

Moretti shot 11-of-15 from the free throw line and was clutch there down the stretch.

“I missed a couple before when the game was on the line, but not anymore, I’ve practiced,” Moretti said.

Johnston stayed perfect at 8-0 while giving Westerly its first league loss at 9-1.

Johnston held off East Providence, 59-50, on Tuesday evening as well, and it will have a chance to move to 10-0 when it travels to The Prout School for a 7 p.m. start tonight.

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