Old NCIC rivals Ottawa and Princeton doubled up for a girls-boys twin bill at Prouty Gym in Princeton on Tuesday night.

Ottawa swept both games, winning the girls game 44-40 and the boys nightcap 73-43.

Both girls coaches, Tiffany Gonigam of Princeton, and Brett Moore of Ottawa liked having the opportunity for their teams playing in front of a bigger crowd. Gonigam said they help prepare the girls teams for different starting times in the postseason.

“I think they’re nice,” Gonigam said. “Lot of times in regionals, you may be only one game that night. Some of these schools only having a varsity team and then these doubleheaders, you show up and you play and that’s not something we always have to do. So I think it’s good practice for us playing at a different time slot.”

“I love boys-girls doubleheaders. I wish we would do more of them,” Moore said. “And I don’t mind playing first. Because I feel about middle of third quarter, the gym’s getting a little more louder and packed and the girls deserve some that recognition to be seen, too, because they both put a lot of hard work in, on both teams. It’s nice to have nights like these for everyone to see them.”

GIRLS

Ottawa 44, Princeton 40: The Tigresses opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 29-22 lead. The Pirates made a defensive switch and turned the tables, using a 10-0 run to go up 32-29 at quarter’s end.

“We were reeling a little bit and switched up defenses. We went to our 1-3-1 and kind of threw them off a little bit and got them a few empty possessions. And were able to get downhill and get to the rim,” Moore said.

Ottawa pushed out to a 40-35 lead with 3:12 remaining. Princeton’s Keighley Davis made two free throw and added a hoop with 17 seconds left to draw the Tigresses within 43-40, but they could get no closer.

“We had some good moments and good runs. Numbers the way they are, we can’t put ourselves in position of fouling. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively tonight. 43 (points allowed) is a number that you can live with. Just a few more baskets our way that we need.”

Moore knew the Tigresses would still provide a battle even without senior standout Camryn Driscoll, who is sidelined by a knee injury. He passed on his well wishes to her.

“Driscoll has been a heckuva player and a heckuva matchup for everybody she’s played for 4 years now. Ottawa wishes her nothing but the best,” said Moore, who told Driscoll he’d be praying for her to get a good report at the doctor on Wednesday."

Ashlynn Ganiere had 15 points and Libby Muffler 12 for the victorious Pirates (13-7).

Davis led Princeton (15-4) with 18 points with Payton Brandt adding eight on her Sweet 16 birthday night before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

BOYS

Ottawa 73, Princeton 43: Rory Moore scored on a drive and added a 3-pointer before dishing a lob pass to big man Owen Sanders to open up a 44-23 Ottawa lead late in the third quarter.

The Pirates stretched their lead to 30 points late in the fourth quarter to start the running clock to go along with the 35-second shot clock that was also employed for the nonconference tilt.

“Tonight was about we needed to go back to playing a little bit better basketball,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “We’ve had good streaks playing well and then we’ve had some times when things get away from us. We needed tonight to make sure we could string four quarters together.

“I thought defensively we had pretty good energy picking them up in the fourth quarter. It’s easy when you have a shot blocker (Sanders) on the back end. I thought we took care of the ball and got shots we wanted.”

The Tigers hung close early, down just 13-10 at the end of the first quarter on a late Julian Mucha 3-pointer. A hoop by senior Jackson Mason made it a 5-point game early in the second quarter.

The Pirates used a 11-0 run to open up a 16-point edge, but needed a 3-pointer by Lucas Farabaugh before the buzzer to go back by double digits at 31-19 at the half.

“We did some really good things in the second quarter and gave up the 3 at the end that hurt. That’s the quarter we can mark some positives on,” Tigers coach Jason Smith said. “I thought the first quarter we were fine, but the second quarter we really came back. Then the third quarter we just couldn’t sustain it. Hats off to Coach Cooper and Ottawa.”

Jack Carroll led the Pirates (9-8) with 18 points, Sanders had 16 and Moore added 10.

Hayden Sayler had the hot hand for the Tigers (3-17) with three 3-points for a 11-point effort while Gavin Lanham added nine points.