The last time Resurrection's Sarah Schulz lost a D8 league or playoff game was the championship final of her grade nine season (2010) against the St. Benedict Saints.Despite some early foul trouble, she made sure that streak continued on Friday evening at home in the Senior D8 championship final against the St. Mary's Eagles.
She poured in 19 points, the majority in the second-half, as the Phoenix ground out a 36-25 victory for their second consecutive D8 senior title.
However, it wasn't the usual suspects for Rez --- at least offensively --- that allowed them to take an 18-12 halftime lead.
Ellen McGowan put home 10 points in the opening sixteen minutes, while strong defense and rebounding from Kelsey Caza allowed Rez to enjoy a halftime edge with both Schulz and second-leading scorer Celia McGlynn saddled with three fouls each.
The Eagles would get within 5 in the second half, but were cold from three-point range (2-for-18) and missed some opportunities from the foul line (7-for-17) that would have given them a shot.
St. Mary's also played without starting C Sydney Gruelich, who suffered an ankle injury in St. Mary's semifinal game and was on the bench in a walking boot for this one.
Scoring for Rez alongside Schulz's 19 points were Ellen McGowan (10), Kelsey Caza (3), Celia McGlynn (2), and Riley Cormier (2).
St. Mary's scoresheet was led by Beth Zebib (7), and Brittany Gulic (6). Also scoring were Laura Kay (4), Catherine Zafera (3), Angela Mercurio (3), and Keziah Johnson (2).
The victory advances Resurrection to the four-team AAAA CWOSSA tournament next weekend. The title was Resurrection's fifth-ever D8 senior title (play started in 1990), and the junior-senior sweep was the fifth time in league history that feat was accomplished (Doyle 1999, St. David 2006, St. Mary's 2008, Resurrection 2012 & 13).
Boxscore
RCSS 08-10-08-10 = 36
SMHS 03-09-05-08 = 25
Resurrection
S. Schulz 6-17 FG, 6-8 FT, 8 Reb, 1 Ast - 19 Pts.
E. McGowan 5-9 FG, 0-0 FT, 8 Reb, 2 Ast - 10 Pts.
C. McGlynn 1-8 FG, 0-1 FT, 13 Reb, 5 Ast - 2 Pts.
R. Cormier 1-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
K. Caza 1-7 FG, 1-2 FT, 10 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
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P. McCullogh 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
L. Stern 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Hayes 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 14-49 (.286). Free-Throws: 7-11 (.636). Three-Point Goals: 1-4, .250 (S. Schulz, 1-4).
St. Mary's
B. Gulic 2-14 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
C. Zafera 1-10 FG, 1-3 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
A. Mercurio 1-8 FG, 1-6 FT, 10 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
B. Zebib 2-14 FG, 2-3 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
L. Kay 1-5 FG, 2-3 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
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D. Gayle 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
L. Keating 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
K. Johnson 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
M. Srouji 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 8-53 (.151). Free-Throws: 7-17 (.412). Three-Point Goals: 2-18, .111 (B. Gulic 1-7, B. Zebib 1-8, C. Zafera 0-1, L. Kay 0-1, M. Srouji 0-1).
