LAWRENCE TWP. — When it comes to scoring, the Notre Dame High and Pennington School varsity girls’ basketball teams have plenty of weapons. And at full strength, these two Mercer County powers can go at each other. Yet, even with the Red Hawks at limited strength because of injuries and winter b reak, Pennington pushed the Colonial Valley Conference squad Saturday in the Winter Chill Holiday Classic at ND. After grabbing the lead early in the first quarter, just before halftime and again first the first half of the third quarter, Pennington saw Notre Dame take control and pull away for a 67-56 victory. Through it all, the Red Hawks and Irish had plenty of high-scoring performances. Of the five players who reached double figures, three hit for 20 or more points. ND got double-double outings from seniors Caroline Foley (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Grace Hempsell (20 points, 11 rebounds), while Pennington sophomore Makaela Bordner lit up the nets for a game-high 28 points. Head coach Markie Watson’s Red Hawks built their lead as high as 21-8 early in the second quarter when 5-foot-10 sophomore forward Dayonna Doggett (15 points) went coast-to-coast for a layup with 7:05 to go in the half. But head coach Beth Fitzpatrick’s home team rallied to tie the game twice (21-21, plus 28-28) and take the lead twice – 24-21 on a long-range bomb by Foley (one of her five 3-point field goals in the game) and 31-30 on a more conventional three-point play by Hempsell at the close of the first half. “We’re missing a lot of players, so we worked really hard,” said Bordner, who transferred to Pennington after a year at Whitehall High near Allentown, Pa. “We fought as hard as we could, but it got to a point where some of us were gassed.” Back-to-back 3-pointers from Sara Surtz and Bordner gave the visitors a 36-31 lead 1:45 into the third quarter. But with upperclassmen Foley (a 5-9 guard), Hempsell (a 6-1 forward) and Tori Bucchere (a 5-9 forward/guard who added 10 points) sharing the ball very well, the Irish closed the game by outscoring the Red Hawks, 36-20, over the final 15:15. “We’re captains this year,” McDaniel College-bound Hempsell said. “Our chemistry on the floor works really well. Coach (Fitzpatrick) motivates us and gets under our skin when she feels she has to. She has a habit of getting into our heads.” Yet, this day, it was more Pennington, and its refusal to go away, that inspired Notre Dame to play better. “I try to turn up my defense, and that gives me good offense,” Hempsell said. “I know at one point in the second half, I just said to myself, ‘I’m going for the ball.’” Hempsell had 12 of her points and nine of her rebounds in that closing burst, while Foley had 10 points and two of her game-high five 3-pointers, and Bucchere added eight of her points. The trio also combined for 15 assists in the game. Bordner, meanwhile, kept the Red Hawks in striking distance by scoring 12 of her points in the second half, including two of her team-high four treys. PENNINGTON (56) O’Connell 0-0-0, OLee 1-0-2, Surtz 3-1-8, Doggett 5-4-15, Bordner 10-4-28, Cerutti 0-0-0, Vannozzi 1-0-3. Totals — 20-9-56. NOTRE DAME (67) Foley 9-0-23, RParker 1-0-2, Hempsell 9-2-20, Bucchere 4-2-10, Hughes 0-0-0, Kniffin 1-0-2, Wood 3-0-7, FParker 0-0-0, Scharibone 1-1-3. Totals — 28-5-67. Pennington (2-6)                            16    14    10    16    —    56 Notre Dame (4-1)                             8    23    16    20    —    67 3-point goals — Surtz, Doggett, Bordner 4, Vannozzi (P), Foley 5, Wood (ND). ...read more read less