Mount St. Joseph regains composure, finishes strong against Villa Maria
WILLISTOWN >> Mount St. Joseph Academy’s fast start to the fourth quarter against Villa Maria Friday night gave hope for an easy win in the District 1-5A quarterfinals.
That’s not how things go in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies.
The Hurricanes erased a nine-point deficit and tied the game with 1:41 remaining, but they wouldn’t score again.
The fifth-seeded Magic scored the game’s final six points in the last 32 seconds and left Villa Maria Academy with a 47-41 win over the fourth-seeded Hurricanes to earn a spot in the district semifinals and secure a state playoff berth.
A jumpball favored the Mount when the ball went out of bounds with a minute remaining and the officials didn’t have a good enough view to see who touched it last. Villa forced another jumpball on the ensuing possession to take control in a tie game, 41-41.
Villa held the ball just over midcourt before Mount coach Matt Feeney motion to senior Taylor Sistrunk to get closer to the ball. She forced a bad pass over the middle that Lauren Vesey stole and took to the basket for a layup and 43-41 Mount lead with :32 remaining.
“We knew they were going to try and hold it and take some time off the clock,” Vesey said. “We did bring our zone up a little bit to pressure them, but obviously we were trying to protect the basket. (Feeney) had us bring it up a little bit and apply some pressure on their guards. Taylor did a great job up top making them throw some overhead passes and I just got lucky and saw her eyes go there and was able to jump the pass.”
“We wanted to apply a little pressure and see how they handled it,” Feeney added. “It worked out for us tonight.”
After Villa threw the ball away with 17 seconds left, Sistrunk knocked down a pair of free throws with 12.2 remaining, extending the lead to two possessions, 45-41. Vesey grabbed another steal on the ensuing Hurricanes possession and hit both free throws with 5.5 on the clock to close out the win, 47-41.
“We told them in the locker room ahead of time this is a really good basketball team in Villa and it’s going to be a game of runs,” Feeley said. “So when somebody goes on a run, let’s not panic. They went on a run. They did what a good team does. Down (nine) they came right back on us. We didn’t execute. Just stay calm, stay calm. We started to execute. We started to attack again which made a big difference. It helped the girls. We’re better when we attack.”
“We just turned the ball over late in really bad situations,” Villa coach Kathy McCartney said.
The Magic entered the fourth quarter with a 33-30 lead and opened the final frame with a 6-0 run to take a 39-30 lead with 6:19 left in the game. Grace Niekelski made a pair of acrobatic layups to open the quarter and Georgia Pickett added a pair of free throws.
Villa’s Myla Warley went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and Maddy Ryan hit a pair to get within one, 39-38, with 2:07 left.
Sistrunk found Kelly Rothenberg for a layup to put the Mount back up three, 41-38, but Morgan Warley tied the game when she scored through contact and knocked down the free throw with 1:41 to go.
“My kids battled,” McCartney said. “They battled their faces off. They never quit. We’re never out of the game.”
“We talk about poise a lot before the games,” Vesey said. “It’s something that we have definitely been focusing on a lot going into this season and especially in districts. Last game (against Harriton) we had a bit of the same situation, we just kind of lost our poise towards the end. We don’t really know what it is, but it’s definitely something that we continue to focus on, just coming together as a team in those final minutes and trusting each other. (Villa) had a crowd tonight. They had energy and they played fantastic, good for them for making that run. I think the most important part was that we did regain our poise towards the end. We really did come together. Those last final minutes are definitely what we’re going to try to take and repeat going forward.”
Niekelski led the Mount with a game-high 17 points and Vesey joined her in double figures with 15, 14 of which came after halftime.
Morgan Warley led Villa with 16 points and Ryan added 14.
The Mount jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, but Villa used a 9-2 run to go ahead, 9-8. Ryan scored six points in the first to give the Hurricanes a 15-11 advantage through eight minutes.
Villa’s lead grew to 17-11 early in the second quarter, but the Magic battled back to tie the game at 19 with 4:01 until halftime. Niekelski scored seven in the second to help her side to a 22-21 halftime lead.
Vesey came out on fire in the third, scoring 10 of her 15 points. She scored the first four points of the half to help extend the Magic lead to 27-21, but Morgan Warley scored six straight points to tie the game at 27. Vesey scored four straight again and the Magic went to the fourth ahead, 33-30.
The Mount will face No. 1 Springfield (Delco) in the semifinals Tuesday at Harriton at 7:30 p.m.
Villa Maria heads to the playback bracket, where it will try to earn a state playoff berth.
“You take a night because this is a tough loss for us,” McCartney said. “Regroup and then come back and practice next week to get ready to make the state tournament. That’s the goal now. We have to get in that tournament.”
