Marston, Susko pace Plum girls basketball past Freeport in season opener

By: Michael Love
Saturday, December 11, 2021 | 7:22 AM

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Sophomore guard Megan Marston scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, and junior forward Dannika Susko added 12 points and nine rebounds as the Plum girls basketball team topped Freeport 43-33 in the second game of the Freeport Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at Freeport Middle School.

Plum trailed 21-18 at halftime but used a 15-8 third quarter to take a 33-29 advantage before finishing off the win over the final eight minutes.

“I feel we played pretty well, and it was 100% a team effort,” said Marston, who scored nine points in the third and closed it out with eight in the fourth.

“We are starting out with a pretty new team and a new coach. We got better through our practices and scrimmages, and we really showed what we could do in this game.”

The game marked the head coaching debut for Plum’s Rich Mull, who had last served as a head coach in 2009 with the Fox Chapel girls team.

“This was big for us against a good team,” Mull said.

“It was definitely a team effort. We ended up playing eight kids, and there were a couple of freshmen who really helped us when we got into a little foul trouble. We had to move our feet on defense and not use our hands as much because the referees were calling the game close. Hopefully, it’s a stepping stone to improvement and getting better.”

The Yellowjackets used a 12-4 advantage in the second quarter to rally from a 14-9 deficit after one quarter of play.

Sophomore Ava Soilis scored 15 of her team’s 21 first-half points, but she was limited to four points in the second half. She was 9 of 11 from the free throw line, and she also connected on a pair of 3-pointers.

Her 19 total points led the Yellowjackets.

Sophomore Morgan Croney drained a pair of shots from behind the arc in the third quarter and finished with six points for Freeport, and senior Leah Hartman pulled down eight rebounds.

“I liked the tone and the intensity we set at the start of the game and throughout the first half, and we played well,” Freeport coach Fred Soilis said.

“In the second half, we let too many weak-side cuts come to the middle, and they got easy shots. That’s what hurt us. And we didn’t rebound the way we needed to. But compared to where we were in the first two scrimmages, I am proud of what they did tonight. Now, it’s about building on this and getting better.”

Plum returns to tournament action at 10:30 a.m. Saturday against Highlands, a 44-23 winner over Fox Chapel in the first game Friday.

Freeport will take on Fox Chapel in the second game at 1:30 p.m.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Plum