Ismail's sharpshooting lifts Maine East past St. Viator

If you want a turning point in Monday's girls basketball game between St. Viator and Maine East, how about when the lights went out?

Well, not literally.

But East senior Marian Ismail did shoot lights-out to turn a 3-point deficit into a 5-point lead in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

In a span of less 1:10, Ismail hit a pair of 3-pointers and a driving bank shot for eight straight points that wiped out a 40-37 deficit and gave the Blue Demons a 45-40 lead with 4:30 left in the game.

They never trailed again en route to a 53-48 triumph in the second-round game of the Blenner Holiday Classic at St. Viator High School.

Ismail finished with a game-high 16 points, converting 6-of-7 field goals, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range.

Just two days earlier, the 5-foot-4 guard converted a career-high five 3-pointers in a 51-48 loss to Harvest Christian.

"She is by far our best 3-point shooter," said Maine East coach Karol Hanusiak, whose team (8-4) trails Maine West (4-0) by one game in the Central Suburban North. "You should see her in practice. She is like 'lights out.' "

Things were looking brighter for Viator when it rallied from a 26-17 deficit to tie the game at 26-26 at half.

The 9-0 run to close the second quarter included two baskets by junior forward Haley Robinson, including a layup with three seconds left.

Robinson ended up Viator's leading scorer with 12 points. She is also had 6 rebounds, just 1 behind team leader 0livia Solimene.

After Ismail's 8 straight points, the Blue Demons weren't through.

Junior guard Lauryn Alba-Garner hit a 17-footer and then raced to the basket for a fastbreak layup that gave East a 49-40 cushion with under three minutes.

But the Lions (5-9) refused to surrender, closing to within 50-48 when Julia Bergstrom hit a pair of free throw with 43.9 seconds left.

Both teams missed the front end of bonuses before Janelle Alba-Garner hit the front end with 10.8 second left for a 51-48 lead.

Solimene got the big rebound on the second shot and the Lions called time out with 6.8 seconds left.

Janelle Alba Gardner (14 points) spoiled any hopes of a game-tying 3-pointer when she intercepted the inbounds pass and went in for layup as time expired.

"I thought we did a good job because we don't put our heads down when we got behind by 9 points late in the game," Robinson said. "Two weeks ago if we go down by 9 points, we start hanging our heads and have no chance.

"This time, we pulled back to within 2 points but just couldn't quite pull it off. We played as a team and stayed with it to the end."

Six Lions ended with 6 or more points, including Myia Clark (10), Bergstrom (7), Jenna Breslin (7), Solimene (6) and Maggie Leazer (6), who had 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist.

Breslin pulled down 6 rebounds followed by Clark (5), Bergstrom (4) and Michaela Mueller (2).

"There were two phases to the game," said Lions coach Jason Raymond. "We came out a little sluggish and let No. 5 (Janelle-Alba Garner who scored 10 points in the first quarter) attack the basket and didn't get any help on her.

"Then, after we came back to get the lead, No. 11 (Ismail) got on her run. If we eliminated those two stretches it's a different ballgame."

Ismail shared rebounding honors for her team with Lauryn Alba-Garner (5 apiece).

"A few weeks ago, being down nine points in the fourth quarter turns into a 15-point loss," Raymond added. "Now it's starting to turn the other way where we give ourselves a chance to win."

East was winning almost all the way against Harvest Christian on Saturday before falling on a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

"That left a bitter taste in our mouth," Hanusiak said. "We should never have been in that position to lose in the end.

"To see the second-quarter lead slip away and then come back tough in the second half was nice to see. And it was nice that everyone contributed."

"We just stayed focused," Ismail said. "And we worked together."

Raymond liked how his girls worked together as well.

"We shot 31 percent from the field," he said. "We missed a lot of layups. We outrebounded them (48-27).

"I'm proud of how they are starting to play as a team. Right now, that is the most important thing."

In an earlier game on Monday, Harvest Christian (10-4) posted a 47-23 win over Leyden (4-8) behind Paulina Castro (17 points) and Alyssa Iverson (15 points).

The Eagles were led by Rebecca Johnson, who scored all 8 of her points in the first quarter, and Rebecca Miranda (6 points).