St. Patrick sophomore Emma Gallenstein’s 3-pointer had just given the Lady Saints a 30-28 lead over Bishop Brossart three minutes into the third quarter of Monday’s girls 10th Region quarterfinal game when Lady ‘Stangs coach Steve Brown called a full timeout.
“We challenged them a little bit to get out and to guard,” Brown remembered. “We just didn’t seem to be playing with a lot of focus at that time.”
The Lady ‘Stangs listened. They outscored the Lady Saints, 35-12, the rest of the way in a 63-42 win at The Fieldhouse at Mason County.
“I think we all kind of calmed down and came together and said, ‘no more’,” Brossart senior Molly Kramer said.
Actually, Brossart (22-11) has 32 minutes more. The Lady ‘Stangs meet Montgomery County, a 60-53 winner over Pendleton County, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
Four Lady ‘Stangs finished in double-figure scoring. Kramer was tops with 16 points, Jill Planeaux added 15, Zoee Meyers had 12, and Bella Rowe tossed in another 11.
When the Lady ‘Stangs handled St. Patrick, 69-52, in the regional All “A” semifinals Jan. 23 at Paris, Meyers scored 23 points. Lady Saints coach Andrew Arn said Monday’s strategy was two-fold: tighten the 2-3 zone and be more patient on offense.
“Know where (the) 3-point shooters are,” Arn said before the game.
St. Patrick mostly stopped Brossart’s 3-pointers – the Lady ‘Stangs were 3-for-10 from long distance. There wasn’t a lot of patience – the Lady Saints committed 22 turnovers, which Brossart converted into 25 points.
“At times I thought we did a real good job of jumping out into the passing lanes and not letting them start their offense,” Brown said. “… And then, when they picked the ball up, I thought we did a good job of guarding them – not letting them see where to throw the ball.”
Brossart’s task on defense seemed simple: contain Caroline McKay and Izzy Riggs because they scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, in January, and Riggs and Lillian Klee grabbed 10 rebounds apiece.
Monday, McKay and Makenna Roush scored nine points apiece.
Meyers’ baseline bucket opened the scoring, but St. Patrick found a weak spot: the right side of Brossart’s defense. Riggs and Roush poured in layups, and Riggs’ 3 from the left wing gave the Lady Saints an 11-6 advantage.
McKay’s four points, Riggs’ three and Roush’s two put St. Patrick ahead, 23-19, with 3:24 to go in the second. Brossart rebounded with a 9-0 run and a 28-23 halftime lead.
After Gallenstein’s bucket a little more than three minutes into the third quarter gave St. Patrick a 32-31 lead, Brossart largely ran away.
Meyers and Rowe knocked down three’s and Kramer and Planeaux added two apiece, the Lady ‘Stangs were up, 41-34, with a quarter to go.
Planeaux was just warming up. Her three and three-point play made it 47-34. Kramer and Meyers added two each.
The result: Brossart, 51-36, with 6:43 to go.
Izzy Riggs led St. Patrick with 16 points in her final game.
Montgomery County crushed Brossart, 68-38, Dec. 9 in Mount Sterling. Hayden Barrier led the Indians with 23 points, Allie Dillon had 15, Elaine Purvis was next with 14, and Reaghan Oney added 10 and 10 rebounds. Kramer led Brossart with 10 points.
ST. PATRICK 11 9 14 8 – 42
BISHOP BROSSART 11 15 15 22 – 63
St. Pat (42) – Riggs 16, McKay 9, Roush 9, Gallenstein 5, Klee 3
Brossart (63) – Kramer 16, Planeaux 15, Meyers 12, Rowe 11, Bertsch 8, Hummel 1