Posted on 01 March 2009 by .
By Joe Kvartunas
PVI Student Intern
The Holy Cross Tartans defeated the Saint Mary’s Ryken Lady Knights in a thrilling game 58-49 in Saturday’s WCAC girls basketball quarterfinals at Gonzaga.
The score, however, betrays how close the game truly was.
“It was a hard fought battle.” said Holy Cross coach Russell Davis. “I thought Ryken did an excellent job. They took us out of a lot of the things that we wanted to do. But we persevered, we dug in, and we came out with a win.”
The game, which saw seventh-seeded Ryken pitted against second-seeded Holy Cross, contained seven lead changes and the largest lead of the game being the nine points that Holy Cross won by.
“That’s just how close the game really was.” said Ryken coach Tara Everly. “I thought we gave a great effort, we just couldn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter. The rest of the game I thought we played well.”
At the end of the first quarter the Lady Knights, who were very accurate from beyond the three-point line, were up three, 14-13.
“They were good from the perimeter and we didn’t rotate on defense,” Davis said. “When you allow them to shoot anything can happen, and they were knocking down shots.”
The game continued to be back and forth for the rest of half, with neither team being able to get on a run. In the third quarter, Ryken jumped to a six-point lead, but were unable to put the game away.
“We called a time out and said we had to pick up our level of intensity and we were able to push the ball and basically take the game away,” Davis said.
The Tartans, led by sophomore guard Tyonna Williams with 18 points, were able to put a small run together with two minutes left on the third to cut the lead to 2 at the end of the third quarter, 39-37.
In the fourth, the Tartans continued their success, taking the lead back early in the fourth, and never relinquishing it. Holy Cross senior NaTasha Thames chipped in with 12 points of her own as Holy Cross shot free throws for the last two minutes of the game to extend their lead to nine and win the game 58-49.
The Champs March On
Fifth-ranked Bishop McNamara pulled off a minor upset of the fourth-seeded St. John’s Cadets, 52-43.
The game, which saw defending champion McNamara leading by as many as 17 points, also saw 55 fouls called, and almost 100 free throws shot.
“You’re going to get that when you play McNamara. They play a physical game and if you can’t match that physicality then you are in serious trouble.” said Cadets coach Jonathan Scribner. “55 fouls is unfortunate, but what can you do? That’s just the nature of the game.”
McNamara, who led for the entirety of the game, caused Saint John’s a lot of problems with its trademark full-court high pressure defense.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game. St. Johns is a very good team,” Bishop McNamara coach Robert Surratt said. “I told the girls that they just needed to play three good games this weekend and we could get back to the championship.”
St. John’s did make a pretty remarkable comeback in the game thou. Down 17 early in the third quarter, junior Mariah Jones led St. John’s went on a big run that lasted throughout the last two quarters.
St. John’s was able to cut the lead to 5 with 1 minute to play, but they seemed to run out of time. Needing to foul the rest of the way, St. John’s sent McNamara to the line for their last four points. The game would end that way, at 52-43.
“When we really play with a lot of intensity and passion, we’re a really good team. If we don’t bring that to the court than we struggle, that’s just the way it is,” Scribner said.
Good Counsel pulls out win over O’Connell
Good Counsel defeated Bishop O’Connell, 67-60, in a game that was eerily similar to the one played directly before it.
The Falcons, who were the top seeded team in the tournament, played that way in the first several minutes of the game, creating turnovers with their heavy press. But the Lady Knights hit four threes in the first half to stay in the game.
“All year long we have lived and died by threes. And we knocked some down early, but we didn’t compliment that with the defensive intensity that we usually have.” O’Connell coach Jimmy Brown said.
The third quarter showed the Falcons taking control of the game and pushing their lead to 16.
“We were able to do a nice job getting sent to the free throw line, and obviously got us into foul trouble,” Good Counsel Coach Tom Splaine said. “I thought we did a great job defensively, especially on Horvath. She is aggressive to the basket and I thought she did a great job executing and finishing shots.”
In The fourth quarter, the Lady Knights came out guns blazing and went on a big run.
But led by senior Kelly Horvath, O’Connell was able to cut the lead to five with two minutes to go. But that would be as close as they would come. O’Connell would have to foul the rest of the way, and would end up losing 67-60.
Said Brown after the game; “They’re a great team; Tom does a nice job over there. I was really proud of our girls.”
Seton Takes Care of Business
Elizabeth Seton defeated Paul VI Catholic in a WCAC quarterfinal match on Saturday, 55-43.
Seton, the 3 seed in the tournament, is not really used to having such a good position in the post season.
“We knew it would be really tight. This was the first time in a long time that we didn’t have a play in game and we were starting on a Saturday,” Jazz Perazic said.
The game started off well for the Panthers, going up 12-4 to start the game. But Seton would go on a 7-2 run to end the quarter at 14-11.
After a couple lead changes in the second quarter, Seton ended the half up 26-23.
“We came out a little nervous initially, but we stepped up on defense and ran our offenses well toward the end,” said Tyuanna Marshall, who led all scorers of the day with 19 points.
The third quarter was once again back and forth with Seton ending the quarter up by five points, 37-32. In the forth quarter, Marshall and the Roadrunners really took over, extending their lead to 10 with 3 minutes left to play.
“My defense was a key,” Marshall said. “I got points when I would get steals and rebounds, and I’m glad I could help the team to a victory.”
“I thought we played really hard, they are a good team,” PVI coach Scott Allen said. “We made some mistakes and they took advantage of that. I wish we could have scored more in the second half but sometimes your shots just don’t fall. We just didn’t make our shots, that was the difference in the game.”
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