Atlantic City Press 3/7/09: Eustace girls down St. Joseph
St.Joe girls fall to powerful Bishop Eustace
By AARON BRACY For The Press
(Published: Saturday, March 07, 2009
)
PENNSAUKEN – St. Joseph High School has good athletes who play girls basketball. Bishop Eustace has good athletes – even a few great ones – who are basketball players.
There’s a difference. How much?
“Well, obviously, a 30-point difference,” St. Joseph’s senior Lauren Reap said.
Fourth-seeded Bishop Eustace beat fifth-seeded St. Joseph 54-20 on Friday night in a Non-Public B South quarterfinal.
“These kids play basketball 12 months a year, and I don’t have that,” St. Joseph coach Dan McGettigan said. “I might have one, and that’s OK. This is high school sports. That doesn’t mean they can’t get to be that good. (Bishop Eustace is) just really good.”
Eustace (21-4), No. 6 in The Press’ Elite 11, has at least two Division I college prospects: senior Ify Obianwu, who has committed to Long Island University, and junior Jackie Schluth, who is being recruited by Atlantic 10 and Patriot League schools.
McGettigan knew the Wildcats (19-8) were in trouble when they held Obianwu and Schluth scoreless in the first quarter but still trailed 16-4. Fourteen of those points came from Eustace junior Victoria Sobocinski, who averages eight points per game but had 19 in the first half alone Friday, including five 3-pointers.
“They have no weaknesses,” McGettigan said. “They have three or four kids who can shoot, and the one kid (Sobocinski) who we thought was their third-best shooter didn’t miss a shot.
“They can push the ball, they can rebound the ball, they play inside. They’re good. They’re really good.”
Reap added, “They have an army of weapons.”
Sobocinski made three 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the game to help Eustace take a 12-point lead. After the Wildcats opened the second quarter with six straight points to close it to 16-10, Sobocinski scored five during a 16-0 Crusaders run that ended any hopes of a St. Joseph upset.
“It hurt, and we weren’t finding her. That was the part that was killing us,” McGettigan said. “We’re running down the floor and looking over our shoulders, and I said, ‘Girls, the ball’s not behind you, it’s in front of us.’ We have to sprint and get back and play defense. I was a little disappointed with that.”
But McGettigan wasn’t disappointed with the outcome, or the season in general.
“They were better. I don’t know if I have a player who could start for them,” he said.
“The season was great. We watched these kids grow from Day 1, individually and as a team. I think if you would’ve told someone we would be (19-8) and tied with Sacred Heart (in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference Division II), they would’ve laughed at us.”
Reap, the Wildcats’ lone senior starter, also was not distraught by Friday’s result.
“They’re a great team. Every single one of them is a great basketball player,” Reap said of the Crusaders. “We have a lot of kids who are two- and three-sport athletes.
“I’m just really happy with our season and to come this far, and I wish the best of luck to my team next year.”
St. Joseph4 8 3 5-20
Bishop Eustace16 16 11 11-54
S-Spadaro 1 1-2 3, Senese 1 0-0 2, Howard 4 0-0 8, Cavallo 1 0-0 3, Vadino 1 0-0 2, Como 1 0-0 2. Totals-9 1-5 20.
B-Margraf 1 0-0 3, Schluth 4 1-1 9, S. Browne 3 0-0 6, Obianwu 2 0-0 4, Sobocinski 7 0-0 19, Phillips 1 0-0 2, J. Browne 1 0-0 2, Piatek 1 0-0 3, Morano 1 0-0 2, A. Parish 1 0-0 2, Cirucci 1 0-0 2. Totals-23 1-1 54.
3-pointers-Cavallo S; Sobocinski (5), Piatek, Margraf B.
Records-St. Joseph 19-8; Bishop Eustace 21-4.
