Troisi powers Pope John Paul II past Agnes Irwin

LIMERICK >> With a bit less than 2:30 left Sunday night, Gabby Troisi read and jumped a pass from Agnes Irwin.

Stepping in front of the ball, the Pope John Paul II senior went the length of the floor, went up with a defender draped over her and willed the ball in, getting a whistle and trip to the foul line as a reward. Not a minute later, she deftly tipped a pass enough to direct it to Shannon Mullen for an easy hoop.

Troisi saved her best for the fourth quarter as she led PJP past Agnes Irwin, 44-33, in a Blue Chip Classic showcase game at Spring-Ford.

“Gabby does many, many things for us,” PJP coach Liz Bernstein said. “She’s an exciting player to watch. From an offensive perspective, she can step out on the perimeter, she can drive, her floor vision is tremendous. What she allows us to do is spread out and get the ball into the hands of people that are in close.”

With Agnes Irwin taking a truckload of 3-point shots, rebounds became especially important Sunday, given that long misses usually end up in long rebounds. PJP did well on the boards, conceding seven offensive boards but pulling down 11 of its own. Troisi noted that when an opponent displays an affinity for the long ball, the technical part of rebounding becomes more important.

The senior, who is committed to West Chester, said the focus on defense was to close out on the shooters along the perimeter and box out hard inside the arc.

“Long shots record long rebounds, so we had to box out,” Troisi said. “That goes for the shooter, too.”

PJP (12-9, 9-3 PAC-10) led 11-6 after one quarter with Stephanie Petery and Troisi chipping in four each. Agnes Irwin (8-15, 0-9 Inter-Ac) played the game even in the second and third quarters, so PJP held a five-point advantage going into the final quarter.

Defense and rebounding had put PJP in good standing entering the final stanza and its senior captain was going to bring it home. Troisi scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth and had three of her four steals in the period. Aside from that, the wing had nine rebounds and six assists, each one seemingly better-looking than the last.

“I have no idea,” Troisi said when asked where her vision comes from. “It’s just something that kind of happens. I don’t have an answer for that.”

The Golden Panthers brought a tenacious effort to the game and Troisi said that’s what they relied on to close it out.

“We kept our composure, we were very patient on the offensive end of the court,” Bernstein said. “A big thing that we’ll need to continue to work on and will be critical will be our communication on defense.”

PJP and Irwin traded four baskets to open the fourth, with Lindsey Lane scoring both for Agnes Irwin and Petert and Troisi splitting the effort for the Panthers. With 3:52 left, Petery, who scored nine points, hit a cutting Troisi for a layup.

The next possession saw the senior get her steal and three-point play, prompting an Agnes Irwin timeout but after a turnover, Troisi had the touch pass to Mullen and it was suddenly a 12-point lead after a 7-0 run.

“Our mentality was who wants to win this game,” Troisi said. “I just try my hardest to always be involved on defense, to be in the line of the passes and stuff and I try to anticipate, I think that’s where most of my steals come from, anticipating.”

The Panthers didn’t shoot great, but they ran their offense well, using drives into the teeth of Agnes Irwin’s defense to set up kick-outs and second options.

The win was an important one as the Panthers close out the regular season and prepare for the PAC-10 tournament and then districts. Troisi said she wants the team to play every game with the same kind of tenacity and intensity that it did on Sunday.

“It prepares us as we start to look a little bit down the road,” Bernstein said. “I don’t like to do that because we do have a game on Tuesday. But it allows to prepare and maybe try some different things offensively and really work through what we need to in order to prepare.”