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Delran routs Moorestown

Delran girls' basketball coach Pete Miles said he likes the athletic ability and versatility of his young team that must replace four seniors from last season's 17-win club.

A mass of players, Moorestown's Nikki McMonagle (left) and Lauren Leskow (33), and Delran's Crystal Cleveland (22) and Jess McHugh (15), fight for possession of a rebound.
A mass of players, Moorestown's Nikki McMonagle (left) and Lauren Leskow (33), and Delran's Crystal Cleveland (22) and Jess McHugh (15), fight for possession of a rebound.Read more

Delran girls' basketball coach Pete Miles said he likes the athletic ability and versatility of his young team that must replace four seniors from last season's 17-win club.

What about marksmanship?

The Bears' three-point shooting was a major factor during last night's 55-32 win over visiting Moorestown in an interdivisional game between Burlington County Scholastic League teams.

Delran shot 8 for 14 from beyond the arc, while Moorestown took three treys and didn't make any.

That means Delran outscored Moorestown, 24-0, from beyond the arc.

"We have four or five players who can drain the three," Miles said.

Last night, it was two players, sophomore Taylor Umbrell and senior Jess McHugh, who did most of the damage.

Umbrell scored 17 points, hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. McHugh added 16 points and was 4 for 6 from three-point land.

The Bears shot well from a distance during a 15-10 third quarter that gave them a 41-28 lead entering the final period.

Delran made 4 of 6 from beyond the arc in the third quarter, none more crowd-pleasing or improbable than McHugh's 28-foot buzzer-beating bank shot from the left wing.

McHugh insists that she didn't call the shot before she took it. In fact, she said she didn't even see it go in. After firing the shot, she turned toward the bench.

"It was pure luck," McHugh said.

Maybe, but the other seven looked pretty skillful.

Besides Umbrell and McHugh, Delran's other three came from Colleen Hughes.

Moorestown coach Chris Hill said her team was playing man-to-man to limit Delran's long-range chances, but the Bears simply made some tough shots.

"Kudos to Delran for the way they shot," Hill said.

Actually it was Delran's defense that turned the game around as much as its shooting. When the Bears turned up the pressure, Delran forced turnovers. For the game, Moorestown committed 17 turnovers.

"We really played well in our man-to-man," McHugh said.

Moorestown is among the younger teams around, with six sophomores, including four in the starting lineup. Sophomore guard Stephanie Toy scored a team-high 11 points for the Quakers.

So even though Moorestown is 0-2, Hill sees progress with this young team. She should also take consolation in the fact that not everybody is going to shoot the lights out the way Delran did last night.

As for the Bears, they probably can't depend on such accurate shooting every game. But even if Delran doesn't match last night's performance, it won't be from lack of effort.

McHugh says the Bears work on shooting threes all the time in practice.

Miles noted that the Bears weren't as torrid from the perimeter in their opening 45-28 win over Westampton Tech.

What it shows is that Delran can beat teams many ways, and last night's win came via the long distance variety.

Moorestown 8 10 10 4 - 32

Delran 12 14 15 14 - 55

M: Nikki McMonagle 2, Stephanie Toy 11, Erica Estevez 4, Kellen McGinley 5, Marisa Randazzo 4, Lauren Leskow 6.

D: Taylor Umbrell 17, Lea Enoch 1, Jess McHugh 16, Tara Ballay 2, Crystal Cleveland 4, Colleen Hughes 6, Brianna Brown 3, Casey Burk 6.