IMS girls hoops ends season with ninth straight victory

LAKEVILLE — The Indian Mountain School varsity girls basketball team capped off their season with another tremendous win to finish with an 11-1 record. Winning their ninth straight game Saturday, Feb. 28, they beat Kingswood-Oxford 35-19. This squad has gone 18-3 over the past two seasons.

In the first half, the Falcons went down 7-4 early, but they responded with a 15-3 run over the final seven-and-a-half minutes to take a 19-10 lead into the break.

The first half saw Indian Mountain play their signature half-court defense, forcing turnovers and grabbing defensive rebounds. Kingswood-Oxford turned the ball over 22 times in the first half.

Eighth-grader Renee Palmer of Lakeville and ninth-grader Kate Rubin of Norfolk led the way in the first, combining for 14 points. Eighth-grader Natalie Appel, ninth-grader Abi Hernandez and ninth- grader Caroline Appel also scored during first-half action as the Falcons were on their way to victory.

The trend only got worse for K-O in the second half as IMS started out on a 12-4 run. Renee Palmer and Kate Rubin both continued their scoring, but the defense was really the key to victory. By the end of the day, Kate had six steals, Renee recorded five and Caroline Appel finished four of her own. Ninth-graders Abi Hernandez, Alicia Herrera and Sabrina Kim and eighth-grader Natalie Appel also took the ball from their K-O opponents.

With eight minutes remaining in their season, IMS led 31-14. Kate finished with eight rebounds, two blocks and 12 points, while Renee finished with a game-high 16 points. Abi was the only other Falcon to score during the second half, but Indian Mountain’s swarming defense continued to cause turnovers all afternoon. K-O’s total turnover number was 39.

In the paint, Indian Mountain also recorded seven blocks as Renee, Kate and Jenna altered shots from their opponents.

Over the season, Indian Mountain had impressive wins over Millbrook, Rumsey Hall, Berkshire, Taft, Hotchkiss, Kildonan, Salisbury Central, Miss Hall’s and Ethel Walker. They also finished in first place at the Greenwich Country Day School Tournament.