Mount St. Joseph comes up short to Villa Maria

SPRINGFIELD >> Kathy McCartney was wearing the smile of a coach who had just seen her team win, but not necessarily in the way that she planned.

The Hurricanes of Villa Maria had just dispatched host Mount Saint Joseph, 54-42, and the team was understandably jubilant.

But McCartney remained stonefaced.

“In spots I thought we played really well, and we played well over all,” the coach said, “but there are still things we need to work on.

“In the third quarter we really executed well, and I think that’s where the game was won.”

The Hurricanes streaked to a 15-8 lead after one quarter as Maddy Ryan and Paige Lauder combined for 12 points, then pushed the advantage to 26-17 at halftime.

It was in the third quarter that the visitors took command, as Lauder had eight points and Julia Samar added six.

“They just got too many second-chance opportunities,” said Mount head coach Jim Royman. “That’s where we lost the game.”

The Mount got six points from Deirdre Regan in the third quarter, but the die was cast.

Megan Dodaro had six fourth-quarter points for the home team, but the home team had no comeback left in them.

By game’s end, Lauder had 16 points, Samar added 14 and Abby Wilhelm had 10 off the bench.

“We’re definitely long, and that’s to our advantage,” McCartney said. “At the beginning of the year we weren’t taking advantage of that, but now we are.”

VILLA MARIA 54, MOUNTT. ST. JOSEPH 42
Villa Maria (54) – Julia Samar 6 2-2 14; Kiara Broadhurst 0 1-2 1; Paige Lauder 7 2-4 16; Maddy Ryan 3 1-3 7; Morgan Warley 2 1-2 5; Myra Warley 1 1-2 3; Abby Wilhelm 3 2-2 10; Lizzie Walheim 0 0-0 0; Shannon Smith 0 0-0 0; Paige DeMuhr 0 0-0 0; Haley Croft 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 10-16 54.
Mount St. Joseph (42) – Grace DiGiovanni 0 5-6 5; Kelly Rothenberg 0 0-0 0; Grace Niekelski 3 3-4 10; Lauren Vesey 2 0-2 4; Deirdre Ryan 4 1-2 9; Maggie Zipfel 0 5-6 5; Taylor Sistrunk 1 1-2 3; Megan Dodaro 3 3-7 9. Totals: 13 18-29 42.