Sports
OLMA Basketball Falls to Holy Trinity in Quarterfinals
Olivia Walsh scores 13, but No. 7 Mustangs are outed by No.3 Holy Trinity in CHSAA Quarterfinals.
Our Lady of Mercy’s quest for a CHSAA championship came to an end Wednesday night at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville as the seventh seeded Mustangs fell to the third seeded Titans 55-35.
Holy Trinity’s Katie Poppe led all scorers with 17 points, while Olivia Walsh paced the Mustangs with 13.
“I think Holy Trinity is a really good team,” said Kiffel, who finished his first season as OLMA coach. “That’s something for us to aspire to be. But we battled. These kids played hard. Sometimes, they’re just better then you.”
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OLMA fell behind early thanks to some untimely fouls and unexpected turnovers. The shots that fell in failed to find the bottom of the net on Wednesday.
“That’s the story of our season,” Kiffel said of the inconsistent shooting. “We’re a pretty good team when we make shots, and tonight they didn’t fall.”
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Holy Trinity’s tight interior defense forced the Mustangs to take outside shots, something that isn’t necessarily their style of play.
The Titans didn’t have the same problem. On their way to building a 31-17 halftime lead, Holy Trinity sunk five 3-pointers. Mercy, on the other hand, hit only one.
“Trinity runs really good sets,” Kiffel said. “It’s not just one ball screen, its two, three and four ball screens. Kids get tired trying to fight over screens that often. They’re well-coached and they made their shots.”
The Mustangs began the second half as if they were down by one, not 14. OLMA cut Holy Trinity’s lead to 11 after two quick threes by Walsh and Shannon Brady. But, much like the first half, fouls and turnovers proved to be the Mustangs undoing. Trinity scored four points from the free throw line in the third quarter.
Mercy’s final attempt at a comeback came early in the fourth when they played some of the best defense of the season. Trinity failed to score in the final period until nearly five minutes had past. In fact, the Titans only scored eight points in the fourth. Mercy, however, could only manage seven.
Hero: Walsh - As she had so many times this season, Walsh carried her team when they needed her most. She sank a 3-pointer early in the third quarter that cut the Trinity lead to 11 and drained another to stop an 8-2 Titans run. She finished the game with three triples.
Turning Point: Trinity’s Kristen Korzevinski put a cap on Mercy’s biggest comeback threat of the second half with a basket midway through the third quarter. Two Meghan Orlando free throws moments later built the lead back to 15. OLMA would not hit consecutive field goals again until early in the fourth.
Quotable: “The Catholic League is really tough,” Kiffel said. “We got so much better this year. Some of these kids got so much better this year. We’ll keep getting better and keep working hard.”
Bottom Line: In a lot of ways, the game was a microcosm of the entire season for Mercy. They battled. They fought. But, in the end, they fell just short. That doesn’t speak to their talent as much as it does their youth.
With two freshman starters, the early part of the year was a learning curve. They fell behind and struggled with adjusting, in much the same way as they did in the first half against Trinity. Then, in the second half, it started to click. Although that “clicking” may not have translated to wins, it did translate to a much more competitive team, a team that was learning how to play CHSAA basketball.
Next year, their will be no freshman learning curve for many of the key contributors. While it is always wise to account for changes in high school athletics, it’s clear that the lessons learned this season will pay dividends when the calendar turns to the 2011-2012 season.
There is no doubt OLMA basketball is on its way back.
Key Stat: Amanda Walsh hit four free throws.
Who’s Next: While OLMA’s season is over, Holy Trinity moves on to play St John the Baptist on Friday at 5:30 in the CHSAA semi-finals.
Box Score:
Team……..…..1…..2…..3…..4…..F
OLMA………10….7….11….7…..35
Holy Trinity….19…12...16….8…..55
Holy Trinity: Poppe 7-0-17, Orlando 2-4-10, Brennan 3-2-8, Korzevinski 3-1-7, Barrett 3-0-6, Carey 1-0-3, Wilson 1-0-2, Lavelle 0-1-1, Montoni 0-1-1 Totals: 19- 8-55
OLMA: O. Walsh- 4-2-13, Brady 2-3-7, A. Walsh 1-4-6, Wildes 2-1-5, Bentsen 1-0-2, L. Lehmuller 0-1-1, M. Lehmuller 0-1-1. Totals: 10- 12- 35
Threes: Holy Trinity: 6 (Poppe- 3, Orlando-2, Carey-1), OLMA: 3 (Olivia Walsh)
