Atlantic City Press 3/10/09: Sacred Heart tops St. Rose in girls hoops
Sacred Heart girls grow up in a hurry to get upset win
By AARON BRACY For The Press
(Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
)
VINELAND – It was gut-check time for Sacred Heart.
The Lions were clinging to a one-point lead in the fourth quarter with their season and the high school careers of their four senior starters on the line.
And, as coach Steve DiPatri described it, that’s when his girls really grew up as players.
Second-seeded Sacred Heart scored 10 straight points during a crucial fourth-quarter stretch on its way to a 58-45 victory over third-seeded St. Rose in a Non-Public B South semifinal game Monday night.
The Lions (24-4) advance to their third straight sectional title game, Wednesday against fourth-seeded Bishop Eustace at 7 p.m. at Jackson Liberty. Eustace beat Cardinal McCarrick 62-49 on Monday.
But that coveted trip for Sacred Heart looked far from a certainty when St. Rose’s Taylor Shanley converted a layup to cap a 6-0 run and pull the Purple Roses (21-6), No. 3 in The Press’ Elite 11 and a member of the Shore Conference, one of the state’s top girls basketball leagues, within 40-39 with 6 minutes, 35 seconds left.
DiPatri called a timeout.
“We talked about (how) tonight there would be punches and counterpunches, and we had to stick together on their counterpunches,” he said. “And we had to stick together and punch back.”
Punch back they did.
The Lions scored 10 straight points over the next 3:10 to take a commanding 50-39 lead with 3:25 remaining. St. Rose never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
“We became aggressive again and we played as a team,” DiPatri said. “That’s the key to our squad, playing together and using all the parts. For me as a coach the best part of tonight was the way we stuck together and showed the maturity I’ve been striving for all year.
“Our seniors became women tonight. Sometime in the next two weeks their careers are going to end and I feel confident I did my job to help them grow as individuals.”
One of those seniors, Lions star guard Ashley Durham, had seven of her game-high 28 points during the all-important spurt, six of which came on eight attempts from the free-throw line.
“Play hard,” Durham said of DiPatri’s message during the timeout. “They were a really tough team, a good team, and we knew they weren’t going to stop fighting. I think we stuck it out. We just told each other we’re going to have each other’s back regardless.”
Of her free throws, Durham said, “If I don’t think about it as much, I’m going to make them, and that’s what I did.”
She finished 11-for-14 from the line.
“That’s historically a staple of Sacred Heart teams, get the lead, spread the floor, make them come out (and foul) and hit your foul shots and we did that tonight,” DiPatri said. “That’s they way we’ve won a lot of big games over the years.”
The Lions have another big one looming, and Durham hopes the third time will be the charm after losses in the sectional final the last two years.
“I’m really happy and excited,” she said. “And I think this is our year to go all the way.”
St. Rose11 10 12 12-45
Sacred Heart15 13 10 20-58
SR-S. Clark 4 2-3 12, Hall 4 0-0 10, Russo 3 7-9 13, Shanley 2 0-2 4, Sweeney 0 0-0 0, Mulango 2 0-0 4, A. Clark 1 0-0 2, Roddy 0 0-0 0, Hagaman 0 0-0 0, Donahue 0 0-0 0, Kowal 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 9-12 45.
SH-Braidi 1 0-0 2, Lungu 3 2-6 9, Durham 7 11-14 28, Conroy 3 1-2 8, Simmonds 5 1-4 11, Harden 0 0-0 0, Ferrucci 0 0-0 0, Gavigan 0 0-0 0, Jamieson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-26 58.
3-pointers: SR, S. Clark 2, Hall 2; SH,-Durham 3, Lungu, Conroy.
Records: St. Rose 21-6; Sacred Heart 24-4
