St. Basil Academy’s comeback falls short at Notre Dame
EASTON >> St. Basil Academy needed a lot to happen to rally from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter of its District 1/11-3A Regional Final against Notre Dame to reach the PIAA-3A state quarterfinals.
The Panthers held the Crusaders to one field goal and forced four turnovers as they tried to trim their deficit in the final minutes. Notre Dame went 1-for-4 from the free throw line to leave the door open.
St. Basil Academy had two chances trailing by one with the ball in the final 17.1 seconds. The first time Denae Carter’s layup attempt was off and ND came away with the rebound. Carter tried again as time was expiring. She drove through the lane and took a lot of contact. The whistles were silent and Notre Dame’s Anna Micklos grabbed the rebound. She knocked down both free throws with 1.9 seconds left and Carter’s half-court shot didn’t fall, ending Basil’s season, 32-29, at Notre Dame High School Tuesday night.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Basil coach Terry Mancini said of Carter getting fouled in the final moments. “You can’t blame it on the referees, though. We missed a lot of open layups. We had a lot of opportunities to score.”
“You’re not going to get every call,” Carter said. “You just have to fight til the last horn and I think that’s what we did.”
Carter played a key role in the Panthers fourth-quarter rally. She scored five of her game-high 12 points in the final frame and grabbed five rebounds. Her five points were the final five points Basil scored, trimming a 29-24 deficit to 30-29.
The fourth quarter started with District 11 champion Notre Dame ahead, 26-20. After three scoreless minutes, Sammie White scored to make it a four-point game. The teams traded turnovers and, after an ND miss, Michaela Joniac hit two free throws to get the Panthers within two, 26-24, with 3:06 to go.
Notre Dame took a minute off the clock before Grace Medei hit a three-pointer – the Crusader’s seventh three of nine total made field goals – to build the lead back to five, 29-24, with 2:05 remaining.
Medei missed the front end of a one-and-one before Carter split a pair of free throws with 46.7 seconds left to make it 29-25. Basil grabbed the offensive rebound on the missed foul shot, but was called for a foul.
Micklos split a pair of free throws to get the lead back to five, 30-25. Carter responded with a layup with 31 seconds left. She grabbed a steal and scored again at the rim, making it 30-29 with 17.1 seconds remaining.
“We knew we couldn’t just give up,” Carter said. “We worked really hard for this. A lot of us have been playing together since we were about eight. This is our final time playing together and we knew we had to give it all out on the floor.”
St. Basil Academy forced a jumpball to get the ball back, but Carter’s go-ahead attempt with 10 seconds left was off. Notre Dame’s Antonia Bates grabbed the rebound, got fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Panthers another chance. Carter’s shot in the final seconds couldn’t go and she didn’t get the call before Micklos sealed the game, 32-29.
Carter vs. Bates was a highly-anticipated matchup between two future Division 1 college players. Carter, a 6-foot senior going to Mississippi State, and Bates, a 6-foot-1 junior committed to Rutgers, followed each other on both ends of the floor. Carter finished with 12 points and eight rebounds to Bates’ three points, five rebounds and four blocks.
“It was great to guard her,” Carter said. “I think also for her guarding me – it was a good experience for what the next level will be like. She’s a player that I’ll definitely see at the next level.”
Both teams had trouble scoring in the first half. Basil, which was playing without starters Shannon Remolde and Tori Nigro, didn’t score its first basket until the 3:25 mark of the first quarter and trailed, 8-5, after eight minutes.
Carter banked home a three-pointer late in the first half and Hannah Hunter eurostepped to the basket for a layup to give the Panthers their first lead, 11-10, at halftime.
Reagen Cooper scored all of her team-high 11 points in the third quarter for the Crusaders. After Sydney DeFranco hit a three to put Notre Dame ahead, 17-16, Cooper hit three straight triples. The hosts went to the fourth ahead, 26-20.
The loss is the final game for the St. Basil Academy basketball program as the school is closing after this year.
“I put my heart and soul into this program for the last 12 years,” Mancini said. “It’s a tough way to go out, but I love all those girls in that room. They would go through a wall for me and I’d go through a wall for them.
“I’m happy for my seniors and I’m happy for the younger girls in the program,” he added about going out with five straight AACA and District 1 championships. “They got that championship pedigree now and hopefully it will carry on for the younger girls. I know Denae will go on and do great things. Shannon will when she gets healthy. I told them when they won the league that they have the heart of a champion.”
“It is a bittersweet feeling,” Carter said. “I think that we had an amazing season. We had a lot of adversity this season. We had injuries, our point guard was out for the district and states. I thought we fought really hard and came together as a team. We had many girls on the bench come and step up and it really all began in practice. They pushed us harder every day. It is a tough feeling to lose, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way than with these girls.”
Notre Dame 32, St. Basil Academy 29
St. Basil Academy 5 6 9 9 – 29
Notre Dame 8 2 16 6 – 32
SBA: White 3 0-0 8, Carter 5 1-2 12, Scannell 0 0-0 0, Hunter 1 0-0 2, Bentley 2 0-0 4, Magilton 0 0-0 0, Joniac 0 3-4 3. Total 11 4-6 29.
ND: Medei 1 0-1 3, Grim 1 0-1 2, DeFranco 2 4-4 10, Micklos 0 3-4 3, Cooper 4 0-0 11, Bates 1 0-1 3, Altmire 0 0-0 0. Total 9 7-11 32.
Three-point goals: SBA: White 2, Carter. ND: Medei, DeFranco 2, Cooper 3, Bates.
