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JERSEY SHORE–A year opponents might slow Peyton Dincher if they limited her outside shooting. Tuesday against Lewisburg, Dincher scored frequent points after posting up. She scored attacking the basket. She scored by hitting turnaround jumpers and yes, she hit a 3-pointer.
Dincher could have grown complacent following an outstanding freshman year which earned her first team HAC-I all-star honors. But that is not her style. She is talented, but at her core, Dincher is a grinder. The sophomore went right back to work and her basketball evolution continues.
How far she already has come was evident throughout Tuesday’s HAC-I opener as Dincher scored 23 points and made 10 of 15 shots, helping Jersey Shore defeat Lewisburg, 44-37. Jocelyn McCracken (12 points, 11 rebounds) produced a double-double, Rachel Lorson made two huge plays late to clinch the win and the Bulldogs (4-2, 1-0) became the first team to reach 40 points against the Green Dragons (5-2, 0-1).
“Everybody is expecting me to take the shot, so I have to drive it in and do some different things,” Dincher said. “Playing AAU played a big part. It gave me a lot of practice.”
That certainly is showing. Dincher, who celebrated her 16th birthday Tuesday, grew literally and figuratively this past offseason. The 2022 District 4 tennis singles champion is providing opponents a match-up problem. Back off and she can drain the 3-pointer. Guard her too close and Dincher can blow past defenders.
Or, as she did repeatedly against Lewisburg, Dincher can go into the paint. Dincher was a force when she had the ball down low and her 12 points, primarily scored in the post during the middle quarters, helped Jersey Shore take a lead it never relinquished.
All those qualities are outstanding building blocks. What coach Darrin Bischof likes most, however, is that above all else, Dincher is a relentless worker.
“As far as how hard a worker she is, she’s up there with some of the top players I’ve had. She just wants to be very, very good. We can see that she already is, and she still has two years to go,” Bischof said. “She’s not even reached the tip yet of her potential and she wants to keep improving. It’s just unreal what she’s doing with everyone concentrating on her.”
Dincher leads the area in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game. Lewisburg played mostly a box-and-one defense against Dincher Tuesday. A year ago, that might have restricted Dincher’s effectiveness, but her maturity, drive and talent is now making the sophomore the complete package.
Lewisburg led 10-8 after a quarter but Dincher started doing inside work and her driving layup put Jersey Shore up three at halftime. She gave Lewisburg fits in the third quarter, scoring eight points and missing just one shot. Lewisburg is one of the area’s best defensive teams but had to feel frustrated when Dincher muscled her way over three defenders to put in a baseline jumper, before crossing up a defender and hitting a step-back 3-pointer which helped Jersey Shore take a 37-27 fourth quarter lead.
“I’m playing more versatile and other players on the team are more versatile, too,” Dincher said. “Jocelyn can shoot, Cailyn (Schall) passes well and there are a lot of weapons on the team. That’s really big. Everybody adds something to the team.”
Jersey Shore showed that in the latest hard-fought game between rivals who split two contests decided by eight points a season ago. Schall dealt three assists and Lorson and Celia Shemory combined for five. Shemory helped fuel a stingy defense and Sophia Stover, Rayne Herritt and Jaymison Stellfox provided quality minutes off the bench.
The Bulldogs also more aggressively attacked the boards after a first quarter timeout and negated Lewisburg’s height advantage. A Dincher post up move put Jersey Shore ahead to stay 12-10 early in the second quarter and Jersey Shore held Lewisburg scoreless for more than eight minutes bridging the first and second quarters.
“We knew we wanted to get over 40 because nobody had done that yet against them,” Dincher said. “We had to play defense as well. That played a big part.”
“The last three games we’ve been battling, and our bench is giving good minutes. Sophie Stover goes in and moves feet like a beast,” Bischof said. “We’re playing smarter and we’re talking more than we were earlier in the year.”
When Jersey Shore went up 10 in the fourth quarter, it appeared on the verge of landing a knockout blow. Instead, Lewisburg freshman Maddy Moyers kept willing her team back. The freshman enjoyed a fantastic breakout performance, scoring all 10 Dragon fourth quarter points. Twice Moyers made steals and cut the deficit to six and her third steal led to a layup which pulled Lewisburg within, 40-35 at the two-minute mark. She finished with a career-high 12 points and made her last six shots.
Point guard Sophie Kilbride scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds while adding three assists. Keeley Baker pulled down seven rebounds, but Jersey Shore consistently answered whenever Lewisburg threatened.
Lorson made two of the game’s most crucial plays, showcasing her leadership and helping the Bulldogs put the game out of reach. Following Moyers’ third steal, Lorson took a Schall pass on the left wing and drilled a clutch baseline jumper. Moments later, it looked like the Dragons would have an easy layup, but Lorson hustled down the court, blocked the shot and then grabbed the rebound. Dincher hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 16.2 seconds remaining, making it a three-possession game and sealing the Jersey Shore win.
“Rachel’s shot was huge and it was big for a senior to step up like that,” Bischof said. “Then they get the steal, and she hustles back in front and gets the block and rebound and they don’t score. She could have let it go, but she busted her butt, and it was huge for us.”
LEWISBURG (37)
Sophie Kilbride 4 0-2 9, Keeley Baker 2 0-0 4, Maddie Materne 0 1-2 1, Sydney Bolinsky 2 1-2 5, Elsa Fellon 1 0-0 2, Maddy Moyers 6 0-1 12, Teagan Osunde 2 0-0 4, Addy Shedleski 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 2-7 37.
JERSEY SHORE (44)
Peyton Sincher 10 2-2 23, Jocelyn McCracken 3 6-10 12, Cailyn Schall 1 0-0 2, Celia Shemory 1 1-2 3, Rachel Lorson 1 0-0 2, Sophia Stover 0 0-0 0, Rayne Herritt 0 0-0 0, Jaymison Stellfox 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 11-16 44.
Lewisburg 10 4 13 10-37
Jersey Shore 8 9 15 12-44
3-pointers: Lewisburg 1 (Kilbride); Jersey Shore 1 (Dincher).
Records: Jersey Shore 4-2, 1-0 HAC-I. Lewisburg 5-2, 0-1.