Close but not quite for St. Edward in sectional title game
The St. Edward girls basketball team may not have left Plano's gym with the Class 2A sectional championship plaque Thursday night, but there are a couple of things the Green Wave do have that will long be remembered - a whole lot of heart and a never-say-die attitude.
Trailing powerful Bishop McNamara 47-34 entering the fourth quarter, the Green Wave nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages before falling 59-48 and ending their season 18-12.
"Our girls never gave up," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. "They fought to the end and after the game we talked about the great foundation we have to build on."
The architect of that foundation, senior Katie Yohn, scored 22 points in her final St. Edward game to close her amazing career with a school record 1,812 points. The Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year and almost sure first team all-stater scored 685 this season, averaging 23.6 per game.
"We rely on her a lot, but they had three girls on her almost all the time," Dawson said of McNamara's defense on Yohn.
Yet, Yohn had the basketball in her hands and a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds to play and the Wave down 51-48. Her 3-point attempt, though, rimmed out and a scrum for the rebound ended with a held ball and McNamara had the possession arrow. The Irish then made 8 free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the win.
McNamara (19-10) will play Driscoll (30-1) at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Elgin Community College supersectional.
The Wave fell behind 27-13 at halftime Thursday, making just 6 of 19 field goal attempts in the first half and turning the ball over 10 times while being outrebounded 14-7.
"In the first half we had a couple too many turnovers and we just weren't hitting our shots," Dawson said. "We lost our intensity a little bit. But in the second half we got some defensive stops and rebounds and we got back into it."
The Irish held Yohn at bay in the first half, allowing her just 3 points.
"We just didn't play our game in the first half. It just felt like everyone was going through the motions, and that's the way it was at practice too," said Yohn, who also had 5 assists and 7 steals in the game. "In the second half we had the intensity and drive we normally do. We came so close. I'm so proud of all the girls. I couldn't ask for more."
The Green Wave finally cut their deficit to 10 at 49-39 on an Enza Ranallo layup off a Yohn steal with 4:20 left in the game. After a McNamara turnover, Yohn hit a 3-pointer at the 3:10 mark to make it 49-42. Then Yohn and Ranallo forced a jump ball at midcourt to give the Wave possession and freshman Maddie Kerr (11 points) canned a 3 from the left side off a feed from Yohn to make it 49-45 with 2:38 to go. McNamara sophomore Belinda Schaafsma (10 points, 7 rebounds) made 2 free throws at the 2:26 mark to make it 51-45 but Wave junior Kristi Knott answered with 2 free throws 13 seconds later to make it 51-47.
St. Edward then had to foul and by the time the Wave put McNamara in the bonus there was less than a minute left. But the Irish missed the front end of a bonus with 58 seconds left and Yohn made 1 of 2 with 54 seconds to go to make it 51-48.
But it turned out to be too little too late for the Green Wave as the Irish made those 8 free throws down the stretch to come away with the win.
"They're a quality opponent and Katie Yohn is a special player," said McNamara coach Jeff Bennett, whose team won its sixth straight sectional title. "You don't get to see many as good as her. We took a heck of a punch from them at the end. We were just glad to see the clock get to zero."
For Yohn and fellow seniors Val Gotheridge, Lauren Thomas and Tommasina Domel, the loss brought to a close an overachieving season in which the Green Wave managed 18 wins and a trip to the sectional finals with an underclass dominated team.
"It's sad but at the same time in looking back at the season it's hard to believe how well we played and how hard we fought," said Yohn, fighting back tears. "These are some of my best friends and it's been an amazing season."
And one St. Edward can hold its collective head high about for a long time to come.