February 15, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Magic claim 20th victory in regular-season finale
by TOM UTESCHER

When first-year coach John Miller discussed goals for the season with his Mount St. Joseph Academy basketball players back in early November, one of the desired objectives was accumulate 20 wins before the end of the 2006-2007 campaign.

The Magic found out why this figure is almost universally regarded as a benchmark of success last Wednesday evening, as they struggled to overcome a team they’d beaten easily just a month earlier. In the end, Mount St. Joe prevailed over visiting Villa Joseph Marie (of Holland, PA), 43-36, completing its regular-season schedule with a record of 20-2, and a 13-1 mark in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies.

The Mount tied with Villa Maria (Malvern, PA) as regular-season champions, and since the Magic and the Hurricanes split their two regular-season games, the toss of a coin determined that the Mount would be the top seed, and Villa the second seed for this week’s AACA tournament. Gwynedd Mercy College is the site for both the semifinals on Tuesday, February 13 (Mount vs. number four Gwynedd Mercy Academy/Villa Maria vs. number three St. Basil), and the finals at 7:30 PM this Friday.

Mount sophomore Elle Hagedorn, a starting forward, suffered an ankle sprain back on January 30, and although she was cleared to play last week, it was decided to let her rest the injured joint until the league playoffs. Her spot was filled by senior Caitlin Eccleston, and last Wednesday Eccleston was joined in the starting line-up by classmates Mollie Flynn and Megan Sabia in their last regular-season appearance in the MSJ gymnasium.

They were honored in a pre-game ceremony along with two other upperclassmen who serve as team managers, Kelsey Bridges and Paige Kenney.

In the Mount’s 50-28 win over Villa Joseph Marie last month, the Jems only scored five points in the entire first half. Last week, they almost doubled that figure in the first three minutes, breaking on top 8-0. Eccleston got the hosts on the board with a baseline jumper, and then she forced a turnover from the Jems that led to a fastbreak lay-up by Laura Johnson midway through the period.

With the situation beginning to stabilize, Coach Miller subbed in juniors Ryann Gallagher and Sarah McGorry, who usually start for the locals. Villa Joe would not surrender the lead without a fight, though. With forward Brit Bontemps showing the way with a pair of lay-ups and three-for-four foulshooting, the Jems were still up 16-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Two three-pointers by Claire Kueny helped the hosts cut into the visitors’ lead, and late in the frame a free throw by Alexa Buchanan tied the game at 21-all. In the final minute McGorry also made one-of-two shots from the foul line, providing the Magic with a 22-21 edge at the intermission.

Home fans wanted to see their squad break the game open in the third round, but that didn’t happen. The Magic gained by a few more points, but at the three-quarter mark it was still anybody’s game, at 32-29.

Later, MSJ’s Miller speculated, “Maybe the fact that we won so easily up there [at Villa Joe] in the first game got us thinking ‘Jeez, we should be ahead by more than this.’ Sometimes you force things and you try to make plays that aren’t really there because psychologically you feel that you’ve got to get ahead right away.”

Five-and-a-half minutes into the final stanza, the Jems pulled even at 36-all. With two minutes remaining, Johnson drove the lane and was fouled while making a lay-up for the Magic. She didn’t net the free throw, but the foul was VJM’s fifth of the half, and the sixth followed a minute later as Bontemps committed her fourth personal.

Villa Joe put the Mount into the bonus with 37 seconds to go, when McGorry secured both ends of a one-and-one to furnish her club with a four-point advantage (40-36). On their next offensive trip, the visitors missed three shots, rebounding the first two, but turning the ball over out of bounds while trying to grab a third board.

Fouled again, McGorry dropped in two more free throws for a 42-36 count with 13.4 seconds showing. Grabbing the rebound of another errant Villa shot, Johnson drew the foul and pulled the first point from a one-and-one, tacking the final score on the board with three seconds to go.

As the Mount’s Miller pointed out, “We kept our composure when we had to and took care of business.”

McGorry came away with 20 points and Johnson scored 11 for the Magic, while Bontemps tallied 15 for Villa Joseph Marie.