[ad_1]
LOWER GWYNEDD – Gwynedd Mercy’s Dylan Burke reached out to knock away a Villa Maria pass attempt, the loose ball bouncing to Brooke Evans, who had no hesitation in quickly driving down the court late in the fourth quarter and the Monarchs trailing by a point.
“I was just trying to push the ball as far as I can and I didn’t see anyone else running with me, so I was like ‘I should take it myself,’” Evans said. “I might get fouled, I might make it but I just have to push it.”
Evans cut between a pair of defenders and put a shot up off the backboard that bounced off the front of the rim and dropped in, putting host GMA ahead for just the second time in the AACA girls basketball matchup Friday night.
“That was amazing,” Gwynedd Mercy’s Emilia Coleman said. “She told me, she’s like ‘I don’t know where that move came from.’ “I was like ‘Hey, it was a great move.’ Great execution. She had a great game today.”
After the Monarchs forced a five-second violation, Evans was fouled with 39.6 seconds remaining, the sophomore hitting both free throws to extend the lead to three and GMA held on, bouncing back from a slow offensive start to rally for a 38-34 victory and hand the Hurricanes their first league loss.
“First half we weren’t knocking our shots down and at halftime we really talked about focusing, refocusing, starting 0-0,” Coleman said. “Second half, we all showed up. Student section showed out, thank you out to them, their energy really helped us. And once we got one rolling, the bench showed out and we just kept on going.”
Gwynedd Mercy had just two points after the first quarter and nine at halftime while Carly Catania collected 15 of the Villa’s 17 first-half points.
A Sophia Tray 3-pointer to open the third put the Hurricanes up 20-9 with Villa again up double digits when a Catania triple made it 23-13. GMA cut that deficit in half by the end of the quarter – Coleman’s putback before the buzzer had the Monarchs down 27-22.
“One of our teammates in half said it can only go up from here,” Evans said. “We weren’t scoring a lot but we were taking good shots, they just weren’t falling so we just had to keep that up. Eventually they were going to start falling and we just had to get more looks.”
Villa Maria was up 32-25 in the fourth after Abby Ferry’s corner three but the Monarchs got shots to fall while also increasing its defensive intensity, forcing the Hurricanes into a few turnovers that helped Gwynedd end the game on a 13-2 run.
“When they were holding the ball in our zone, we had to stay centered,” Coleman said. “They were going to do that ‘til we got tired but when coach switched it up, we just had to bring our energy, talk and that really helped getting on the defensive glass as well so we can get our points quickly.”
Coleman scored 14 points to pace the Monarchs (15-2, 5-1 AACA), who split the regular-season series with Villa after falling 49-44 in triple overtime Dec. 12. Friday’s win was the third straight for GMA, which looks to cap a 4-for-4 week Saturday hosting Central Bucks East at 12:30 p.m.
Catania finished with a game-high 20 points for the Hurricanes (12-6, 6-1), who dropped their second straight after losing a non-league game Thursday to West Chester Rustin 53-50. Villa hosts Pennridge 5 p.m. Monday.
“Got some tension here and there but it’s a great game playing them,” Coleman said. “Last time we played them ended not the way we wanted to, we missed a lot of free throws and I feel like this game, Brooke especially stepped up on the free throw line and knocked her shots down.”
Evans, a swing player between JV and varsity as freshman last season, came off the bench Friday and scored all six of her points in the fourth.
“I was talking with my dad about this, he was just like you got to do what you can do, you have to work hard, show your effort in practice,” Evans said. “And my coach even says that I bring the effort in practice and it just means a lot that he’s recognizing my hard work and giving me time and it means a lot that he’s rewarding me for my work.”
After Ferry’s three had Villa Maria up seven in the fourth, a Bailey Balkir jumper and a Burke free throw made it 32-28 with 4:09 left.
Coleman connecting on a three from the right wing pulled the Monarchs to within 32-31 while a Balkir shot off a drive dropped in to give GMA its first lead of the game at 33-32.
Catania converted a runner to put Villa Maria back ahead 34-33 only for Evans’ steal and fast-break basket to give the Monarchs a 35-34 lead with 1:05 left.
The Hurricanes were fouled with 50.4 seconds but on the ensuing baseline inbounds were called for a five-second violation. Evans was fouled with 39.6 seconds and hit both at the line to make it 37-34.
“I was really just trying to tune everything out,” Evans said. “Because we practice our foul shots so much, so I knew that if I just focus and do what I’ve been doing I can make them. So I really just had to focus in the moment and tune everybody out and noise out.”
Villa Maria missed two free throws with 29.3 seconds remaining but claimed the offensive rebound, however a Hurricanes contested 3-pointer was off target. Burke grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Balkir, who was fouled with 11.8 seconds.
Balkir made the first for a 38-34 GMA lead, after the second missed Villa lost the ball at midcourt, Gwynedd corralling it to secure the win.
Villa Maria scored Friday’s first six points before Coleman recorded GMA’s lone basket of the opening quarter. Catania posted the next nine points – draining a three to put the Hurricanes up 15-2 in the second.
“It was kind of hard to stop her on the help side and everything cause they’re all good players on Villa,” Evans said. “So we all had to worry about our own girl but our coach kept saying we have to know where 15 is because Alli (Kaltenbacher) did such a great job trying to shut her down but everyone needs help.”
The Monarchs finally found some offense with a 7-2 run to cap the half, a Kaltenbacher basket inside making it 17-9 at intermission.
Gwynedd Mercy 38, Villa Maria 34
Villa Maria 10 7 10 7 – 34
Gwynedd Mercy 2 7 13 16 – 38
Villa Maria Carly Catania 6 2 2-2 20; Sophia Tray 2 1 0-3 7; Abby Ferry 0 1 0-0 3; Emma O’Hara 1 0 0-0 2; Liz Sharp 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 10 4 2-5 34.
Gwynedd Mercy: Emilia Coleman 4 2 0-0 14; Baily Balkir 2 0 2-4 6; Brooke Evans 1 0 4-4 6; Dylan Burke 2 0 1-2 5; Allison Kaltenbacher 2 0 1-2 5; Megan McDonnell 0 0 2-2 2; Totals 11 2 10-14 38.
[ad_2]
Source_link