Judging from the two teams’ results against common opponents early in the basketball season, it seemed like the Mount St. Joseph Magic would not have too much difficulty defeating Villa Maria in its Dec. 18 Catholic Academies contest.

Indeed, the visiting Magic would be in the lead at the end of each of the first three quarters, and would enjoy a 42-27 advantage a few minutes into the fourth period. After that, though, the host Hurricanes ran off 11 consecutive points, closing the gap to four points, 42-38, heading into the final minute.

Two made free throws put the Mount up by six with seven seconds remaining, and a layup at the buzzer by the ‘Canes set the final tally at 44-40, in the Magic’s favor. Mount St. Joe was able to raise its record to 3-0 within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, and 8-0 overall. Villa slipped to 2-1 and 5-4, in the league and overall.

Two guards, junior Caroline Dougherty and sophomore Carly Derouin, led the victors with 10 points apiece, while junior forward Becca Croft scored a game-high 15 for the Hurricanes.

Dougherty started the Magic off with a layup and free throw, but despite the fact that the Mount defense came out pressing, Villa took a 6-3 lead. Two consecutive layups by sophomore guard Nina Meierdiercks (a Norwood Fontbonne Academy grad) steadied the visitors, and late in the period a three-pointer by senior guard Morgan Cross helped the visitors end the first quarter with a 12-9 lead.

In the second quarter, neither squad scored for two minutes. Then junior forward J.J. Miros converted off an offensive rebound. Next, Miros and Derouin each connected from the three-point loop and senior forward Bridget Horgan scored from the paint. This had the Mounties well on their way to a 25-14 halftime lead.

In round three, the Magic committed a number of fouls against VMA senior guard Sophia Tray, who went six-for-six at the line. Tray is actually a primary lacrosse player who’s going on to Maryland’s Loyola University. Overall, the Hurricanes did a better job keeping pace with their guests, but they still had a two-point shortfall for the quarter, and began the fourth down 37-24. Five different players produced points for Mount St. Joseph.

Villa high scorer Croft began the final frame with a three-pointer; Derouin responded in kind for the Magic. Scoring in transition, Dougherty put the visitors up by 15 points (42-27) with a little more than six minutes remaining, but the Mounties would only score two points the rest of the way.

A made free throw by freshman forward Ashley Troy and a baseline basket by Croft then started off an 11-0 run for the home team. Troy converted on the rebound of her own shot, and she and Tray each made two free throws. Villa benefited from strong rebounding by Troy, and when the freshman scored on an inbounds play with 1:16 remaining, her team was just four points behind, at 42-38.

The Mount could start to hold the ball to run down the clock, and Villa had to get from one team foul up to five to put the Magic on the free-throw line. After a few fouls, the Mounties were trying to inbound the ball from their own baseline, but failed to get the ball in play by the five-second limit.

For Villa, however, the caused turnover was followed by a missed three-point attempt. On the rebound, the ball was tied up, and the possession arrow pointed toward the Magic. The ‘Canes’ fifth team foul put Dougherty on the free throw line with 7.1 seconds to go, and she made both shots for a six-point MSJ advantage.

At the other end, Croft made a layup just before the buzzer, but Villa still suffered a 44-40 defeat.

Mount head coach Matt Feeney was out sick for this contest, and the Magic were piloted by varsity assistant Joe Pensabene and JV head coach Matt Paul.

In addition to the scoring from Dougherty and Derouin, the winners received six points each from Cross and Horgan, five from Miros, four from Meierdiercks, and three from sophomore Caitlin Cavallaro. Aside from Croft, the major contributors for Villa Maria were Tray, with 10 points, and Troy, with nine.