January 11, 2007 Issue
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Classified Chestnut Hill Local Online Editor Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or ©2006 Chestnut Hill Local Winner of One |
Mount makes it a dozen
Mount St. Joseph Academy’s hoop squad kept its unprecedented season-opening win streak going last week, tabbing two victories within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies and raising its overall record to 12-0. In an emotionally-charged home court contest on Thursday evening, the Magic knocked off defending league champ Villa Maria, 57-47, and an in a less dramatic encounter at Merion Mercy on Saturday afternoon, the Magic took care of business by beating the Golden Bears, 44-28. On Thursday, the bleachers at the Mount were filled by a crowd eagerly anticipating this important early-season AACA match-up. As the bout got underway, the Magic’s Laura Johnson and Elle Hagedown each rang up a pair of field goals (one of Johnson’s a three-pointer) and one of the smallest players on the court, MSJ guard Jen Sabia, scored off of a rebound. That put the hosts up 11-4 with five minutes gone, and they maintained roughly the same margin until late in the second period (the count was 16-10 at the quarter). With halftime looming, Villa was down 22-15, but with a little over two minutes to go a 9-0 rally by the Hurricanes began with Lindsay Corcoran’s three-pointer from the left wing. Lay-ups by three other players, one of them off of a steal, earned the visitors a 24-22 halftime lead.
At the start of round three, Julie Trogele tallied off of an inside move to make it 11 straight points for Villa Maria. A 6’2” Penn State signee, Trogele had made some nice scoring cuts to the basket in the first half, accompanied by well-timed passes from the VMA guards. She had now accumulated a dozen points in the contest, but would only add three more the rest of the way. “We adjusted a little bit at halftime how we were going to play their big girls,” Mount coach John Miller said. “We also did a good job with our help-side defense, and for the most part we took away Villa’s fast break, which is one of the best I’ve seen.” In the remainder of the third quarter, the Magic forced seven turnovers from the ‘Canes, who were unable to put together back-to-back field goals at any point. In the first wave of the MSJ counteroffensive, three lay-ups (one directly off a steal) and three free throws by Johnson (who also fed Sabia for a transition lay-up) led the hosts on a 15-1 charge.
Although Hagedorn was hit with her third personal foul three-and-a-half minutes into the frame, she contributed four field goals during the period. With a “three” by Ellen Cannon and two free throws by Chelsea McTigue, the Hurricanes pulled back within five points (37-32) with two minutes left. However, Trogele now had three personal fouls in the book, and retired to the bench. “I don’t think that really mattered, because right now we’re not utilizing her as well as we could,” commented Villa coach Kathy McCartney afterwards. “She’s can be a dominant force inside, but she was on the perimeter a little too much today.” After probing the Villa defense from the edges of the offensive set for a while, the Magic eventually took the ball to the hoop to score eight points in the last 90 seconds. Here, Hagedorn hit two lay-ups and McGorry had one, and McGorry also notched two free throws as the visitors committed their fifth team foul. VMA’s Corcoran drove in for a buzzer-beater, but the Mount had still carried the third quarter 23-10, and took a 45-34 lead into the final stanza. There appeared to be some hope for the Hurricanes at the start of the concluding period, as the Magic committed back-to-back turnovers and the ‘Canes’ Cannon fired up a three-pointer and then hit one of two free throws to make it a seven-point game (45-38). The Magic pulled away again, though, and soon were in the foul bonus. Consecutive buckets by Ryann Gallagher, both assisted by Johnson, solidified the MSJ advantage, and even after Hagedorn fouled out with 1:46 to go, the gap grew as wide as 14 points (56-42) before settling in at 10 for the final horn. Johnson finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five steals and Hagedorn with 15 points, eight boards, and four picks. McGorry registered nine points with seven rebounds, Sabia struck for seven, and Gallagher and Alexa Buchanan had four and three points, respectively. For Villa, Trogele led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Corcoran with ten points and Cannon and McTigue, with seven each. “The Mount played a great game in their house,” the ‘Canes’ McCartney said. “They’re well-coached, and it’s going to be a great battle when we play them again. At the same time, I was disappointed in the way we played today. I thought we were tentative, and there’s no reason for us to be tentative – we’re the defending league champions.” MSJ’s Miller observed, “We beat a very good team today. When you get your opportunities against a team like that you’ve got to score, and today we put the ball in the basket. “I love games like this,” he revealed. “Before the game I told the girls ‘I hope you enjoy this. Play hard and don’t worry so much about the score, but enjoy the experience.’ I hope that for them one of the great things about being at the Mount is to play in games like this against a Villa Maria.” It was the Hurricanes who had dealt the Mount’s 2003 state quarterfinal team its first loss of the season, after that squad had started out 7-0. The atmosphere at Merion Mercy was more relaxed on Saturday, as the Magic arrived to take on a Golden Bears ballblub that was 1-2 in the AACA and 3-7 overall. After Merion’s Sam Landry (eight points, three steals) put the game’s first points on the board from the free throw line, Jenny Sabia lofted a pair of three-pointers to get the visitors rolling. Merion did not record a field goal until Kate Sherry hit a transition lay-up more than four-and-a-half minutes into the action. The Magic took a 17-4 lead into the second quarter, when MSJ’s Johnson would score all of her six points. Near the end of the period, a trey from the keytop by Meg Sabia had the Mount up 32-8 before the Bears’ Margaret Corzel (seven points) tallied off a rebound in the final seconds. Mount St. Joe shot 10-for-10 from the foul line over the first two quarters. The hosts made up some ground in the second half, outpointing the Mount 18-12 as the Magic reduced the number of starters on the floor to one and then none. Hagedorn led the winners with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and McGorry pulled five rebounds while scoring all of her points on free throws, sinking eight of eight. Buchanan and Claire Kueny scored three points apiece, and Gallagher added a field goal. “I didn’t think we’d be 12-0 at this point; it’s awesome,” enthused Hagedorn. How has it happened? “I think we have great chemistry on the team,” the sophomore said. “Everybody gets along really well; our team isn’t cliquey or anything. Coach Miller has been great. I love our fast-break offense because it has so many options, and I like our man-to-man offense, too. The drills that he has us do in practice really help us when we get in games. He prepares us really well.” |
