The Resurrection Phoenix got off to a hot start and were able to dig deep in the waning moments of the game to pull out an exciting 38-37 victory over the St. Mary's Eagles on Friday evening at St. Mary's.
The win capped an undefeated season for the Phoenix, although six of their 12 D8 wins were by six points or less.
The story of the game was the play of the Phoenix's star guard, Sarah Schultz. She got off to a quick start, scoring 9 of Rez's 13 in the opening quarter as RCSS led 13-8 after one.
Schultz equaled her first-quarter total in the second frame, notching another 9 to go into halftime with 18 points. Meanwhile, Angela Mercurio was held off the scoresheet for the Eagles (0/7 FG), but Sydney Greulich hit for double-digits (10) in the first half to keep the Eagles within striking distance, down 26-16 at the break.
The Eagles took a timeout after Rez established their largest lead of the game early in the third quarter (29-16). Coming out of the timeout, St. Mary's got some life when Beth Zebib drilled a three and then followed up with another two pointer to quickly get the Eagles back within single digits.
This spurred St. Mary's, as they cut things to within 4 (33-29) after three quarters.
After the aforementioned quiet start, Mercurio started to heat up for the Eagles in the fourth. She actually gave St. Mary's the lead at 34-33 on a lay-in inside, and (after Schultz put Rez back up one on the other end), Mercurio rebounded a Greulich missed free throw to put the Eagles up 36-35.
With Schultz being held relatively in check by St. Mary's in the second half, it would be up to the other members of the Phoenix to come through with the big plays down the stretch.
Andrea Phillipi was the one who hit the go-ahead bucket for Rez with around 1:30 to play (37-36).
The final 1:30 actually went scoreless, but that's not to say that there weren't some dramatics.
Rez held the ball with under a minute to play, but a turnover gave the ball right back to the Eagles. Another quick turnover gave Rez the ball against St. Mary's pressure. As they were not quite in the penalty yet, two Eagle fouls sent Rez to the line for a 1-and-1 with :13.6 left.
After missing the front-end, Rez guard Celia McGlynn came through with the play of the game, getting a steal at mid-court on the ensuing Eagle possession, and racing in for a lay-up, only to get fouled with :04 on the clock.
Though she missed both attempts at the line, the rebound was tipped around and caused valuable seconds to elapse ---- the Eagles would corral the rebound but didn't get the ball past centre before the clock expired.
Schultz finished with a 24-point, 7 rebound performance for the Phoenix, which included a couple of smooth looking threes and several athletic moves at the basket.
All other starters contributed in the Phoenix scoring --- Phillippi (4), Ellen McGowan (4), Laura Stern (4), and McGlynn (2).
For the Eagles, Greulich led the way with a solid 14 point, 12 rebound effort. Mercurio just missed a double-double herself (8 points, 11 rebounds), while other Eagle points were contributed by Laura Kay (8) and Zebib (7).
With the win, Resurrection also advances as the D8 representative at next week's "AAAA" CWOSSA championship.
Boxscore
RCSS 13-13-07-05 = 38
SMHS 08-08-13-08 = 37
Resurrection (38)
S. Schultz 7-17 FG, 8-18 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 24 Pts.
A. Phillippi 2-7 FG, 0-1 FT, 0 Reb, 2 Ast - 4 Pts.
E. McGowan 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
C. McGlynn 1-10 FG, 0-2 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
L. Stern 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
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K. Caza 0-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Walters 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 14-44 (.318). Free-Throws: 8-21 (.381). Three-Point Goals: 2-5, .400 (S. Schultz 2-4, C. McGlynn 0-1).
St. Mary's
S. Greulich 4-9 FG, 6-9 FT, 12 Reb, 3 Ast - 14 Pts.
C. Docherty 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Gulic 0-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
L. Kay 4-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 8 Pts.
A. Mercurio 4-14 FG, 0-0 FT, 11 Reb, 1 Ast - 8 Pts.
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D. Gayle 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Zebib 3-9 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
C. Zafera 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 15-46 (.326). Free-Throws: 6-9 (.667). Three-Point Goals: 1-2, .500 (B. Zebib 1-2).
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