HAMILTON — After a second-half rally ended in defeat in its season opener Tuesday, the Allentown High varsity girls’ basketball team was better prepared for its second Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division foe Thursday when it visited Steinert. Head coach Dana Wells’ Redbirds worked hard on the boards and had four players put up eight or more points to frustrate head coach Kristin Voorhees Jacobs’ Spartans, 48-36. It all began with a strong first half this time, in which A’town built a 27-19 lead at intermission after jumping to an 11-8 lead in the first quarter. “We were really nervous in our first game at Lawrence,” Redbirds’ 5-foot-10 senior guard/forward Makayla Rondinelli said of her team’s 42-34 loss to the Cardinals. “After being down 24 points and coming back to make a game of it, we knew what kind of team we could be. We played in the first half today like we did in the second half Tuesday.” Allentown’s Lily DeRose, 2, looks to move the ball as she’s defended by Steinert’s Katie Corby, 3, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Allentown’s Lily DeRose sets herself to shoot a 3-pointer against Steinert during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Steinert’s Bella Rosa, left, puts up a shot around the defense of Allentown’s Kailyn Prekop, right, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Allentown’s Savannah Barry, left, looks to pass the ball to a teammate as she’s defended by Steinert’s Caitlin Medino, right, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Steinert’s Naomi Gray, left, slaps hands with teammate Bella Rosa, right, after scoring a basket against Allentown during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Steinert’s Bella Rosa, right, goes up for a shot as she’s defended by Allentown’s Savannah Barry, left, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Steinert’s Katie Corby gestures to her teammates as she brings the ball up the court against Allentown during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Allentown’s Madison Sullivan, 23, grabs a loose ball as she’s surrounded by Steinert’s Naomi Gray, right, Allie McCarthy, center, and Maddy Larry, left, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Allentown’s Makayla Rondinelli, right, moves past Steinert’s Allie McCarthy, left, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Steinert coach Kristin Jacobs watches the action from the sideline against Allentown during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Allentown coach Dana Wells talks to her team in a timeout against Steinert during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Show Caption1 of 11Allentown’s Lily DeRose, 2, looks to move the ball as she’s defended by Steinert’s Katie Corby, 3, during a CVC girls basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Hamilton Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Expand Allentown held Lawrence to 12 second-half points that day, then came back to limit Steinert to 17 second-half points yesterday. Meanwhile, its offense did just enough Thursday to stay comfortably in front of the Spartans. “They played a good game against Lawrence the other day, so they didn’t really surprise us,” Steinert’s 5-5 junior guard Katie Corby said. “We’ll just have to come back stronger and harder in our next game.” The Redbirds certainly did that, following Rondinelli’s lead in the first quarter when she scored eight of her 13 points. Lily DeRose, a 5-2 junior guard, came back to score eight of her team-high 14 points in the second quarter as the visitors held off the home team with a 16-11 spurt. Maddie Sullivan, a 5-8 junior guard, helped with nine points and 12 rebounds, while 5-9 senior forward Kailyn Prekop chipped in eight more points to keep the Spartans’ defense scrambling over the final three quarters. “This is my first year as a guard here,” said Rondinelli, who played at Princeton Day School as a freshman. “As a senior, I’m trying to be a leader and show my teammates that I have their backs. Mostly, I try to talk on the court more. A lot of communication will help us.” A’town used that talking to clamp down on Steinert defensively, holding the home side to single-digit scoring in three of the four stanzas. Corby hit four 3-point field goals and topped all scorers with 16 points to keep the Spartans from falling too far behind. Naomi Gray, a 5-11 senior guard/forward, backed her with eight points. “I’ve had to do a lot more handling the ball in our first two games, but it’s O.K.,” said Corby, who added five assists, six rebounds and six steals. “We’re getting there.” Ally Constance hit 1-of-2 free throws at the start of the second half to pull Steinert as close as 27-20, but the Redbirds expanded their lead to 38-24 when Sullivan led Barry for a layup in the final 30 seconds before Corby hit a trey with two seconds left to head into the fourth quarter, trailing 38-27. ALLENTOWN (48) Rondinelli 5-2-13, Prekop 3-2-8, DeRose 3-6-14, Sullivan 4-1-9, Harmon 0-0-0, Barry 1-2-4, Malvin 0-0-0, George 0-0-0. Totals — 16-13-48. STEINERT (36) McCarthy 2-0-4, Gray 4-0-8, Wright 1-0-2, Larry 0-0-0, KCorby 4-4-16, Chirichella 0-0-0, Constance 0-1-1, Rosa 2-0-5, Medino 0-0-0. Totals — 13-5-36. Allentown (1-1)                            11    16    11    10    —    48 Steinert (1-1)                                 8    11      8      9    —    36 3-point goals — Rondinelli, DeRose 2 (A), KCorby 4, Rosa (S). ...read more read less