St. Basil holds off Gwynedd Mercy

LOWER GWYNEDD >> Terry Mancini took his St. Basil Academy basketball team to Florida over the holidays.

The rewards were evident Thursday night.

The Panthers dominated all the way in subduing host Gwynedd Mercy Academy, 31-26, as Denae Carter and friends took the measure of their hosts in a key AACA contest.

“We were playing a quality team tonight, so we have to be happy with a win like this,” Mancini said. “We were in Florida over the Christmas break and we handled three pretty good teams down there.

“That carried over into tonight, and I’m real happy with the way we played against a very good team.”

St. Basil (8-4, 5-2 AACA) started slowly, getting behind, 6-3, after one quarter and 14-11 at halftime.

But Carter and friends warmed up in the second half, outplaying their hosts and grabbing a six-point lead late in the third quarter.

Lizzie Deal, Carter and Cheryl Remolde all hit 3-balls as the Panthers got their lead as high as nine in the fourth quarter.

But the Monarchs (5-6, 4-3) didn’t waver and actually cut the lead to three late in the game.

That didn’t faze the Panthers, who did exactly what they needed to do down the stretch.

“We had to stay calm,” said Casey Remolde. “We were able to handle their pressure defense and keep our lead.”

The Monarchs got eight points from Carly Heineman, but on this night were no match for the Panthers, who pulled away at game’s end.

“You have to give Gwynedd credit,” Mancini said. “They played hard to the end.

“But defensively, we did a good job on their key players.

“This was a good team we defeated tonight.”

ST. BASIL 31, GWYNEDD MERCY 26
St. Basil (31) – Casey Remolde 3 0-0 6; Denae Carter 4 1-3 10; Cheryl Remolde 1 0-1 3; Lizzie Deal 1 0-0 3; Jules Coura 1 0-0 2; Kelly Grant 0 1-2 1; Lauren Ems 0 0-2 0; Shannon Remolde 1 1-2 3. Totals: 11 6-13 31.
Gwynedd-Mercy (26) – Kaley Griffin 2 0-0 4; Regan Flannery 3 0-0 6; Bridget Casey 0 0-2 0; Carly Heineman 1 6-8 8; Maura Conroy 2 0-0 5; Molly Hutton 0 0-0 0; Sarah White 1 0-0 3; Alyssa Martin 0 1-2 1. Totals: 9 7-12 26.
3-point goals: Deal; Carter; Ch.Remolde; Conroy; White.