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Hastings St. Cecilia nearly pulled off a display of mass hypnosis Thursday night, but luckily for Grand Island Central Catholic, it was able to shake off the mind games and win the real one.
The Crusaders picked up a needed win as they defeated St. Cecilia, 41-37. Central Catholic overcame a St. Cecilia game plan that slowed the Crusader offense to a standstill, and had the unexpected spillover effect of lulling the Crusader defense into a sleepwalk at several points in the game. In the final two minutes of the game, senior guard Tali Fredrickson delivered a pair of 3-pointers to help Central Catholic (15-6) break a tie and hold on for the win.
Central Catholic played without junior Drew Kime, who was on the bench due to an injured toe. That forced the Crusaders to go deeper into their bench, and allowed the Hawkettes to double up on center Alicia Statler. That, coupled with a tough night for the Crusaders' outside shooters, allowed St. Cecilia to stay in the game until the final moments.
"The summary of the game is that we let St. Cecilia dictate the tempo," Crusader coach Andy Anspauch said. "Their game plan was for us to stand around on offense, and as a result that put us in the mindset to stand on defense. St. Cecilia deserves a lot of credit they went with about the only game plan they could, and their defense took Tali and Alicia out of the offense for most of the night. I wasn't upset that we weren't hitting from outside, but I was disappointed that we didn't shoot with confidence."
Fredrickson's two treys aside, Central Catholic was 1-of-17 from outside the arc, and although Statler finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, she was held to a 2-of-10 performance from the field in the second half.
Anspauch noted that his team had to prepare mentally to deal with the St. Cecilia defense.
"That was tempo again, but we didn't want to get suckered into running against them," he said. "There were one or two times we tried and they sneaked up and batted the ball away. For the most part we executed our press break well. I thought the kids deserved credit for being mentally tough. There was a lot of frustration out there, but we showed a lot of resilience too."
Central Catholic got on the board in the first quarter with a pair of baskets from Statler, but the glacial pace of the game meant that St. Cecilia (9-6) held a 6-4 lead with just over a minute left in the period. The Crusaders tied the score in the second period on a basket from Jillian Moravec off an assist from Maureen Stump. Liz McGowan helped hit a baseline jumper and hit a follow shot inside as the Crusaders edged to a 14-8 lead. Stump followed with a three, but the Hawkettes got a couple of late baskets to slice the Crusader lead down to 17-14 at halftime.
St. Cecilia then tied the score on its first possession of the third quarter as Holly Rundle converted a steal into a three. Statler gave the Crusaders some breathing room with a three-point play, then Katie Scheel added a long jumper, and it appeared Central Catholic was about to make its move. Instead, it was the Hawkettes who went to work on offense, running off six unanswered points to end the quarter and take a one-point lead into the final eight minutes.
The last tie of the night came with two and a half minutes to go, as Abby Jackson hit from outside for St. Cecilia to tie the score at 33. Fredrickson answered with her first three, then hit another with just under a minute left. St. Cecilia cut the lead to two, but Statler got one final basket off a missed free throw and the Hawkettes ran out of time and opportunity.
Anspauch agreed that Central Catholic's injury situation had a big effect on the game.
"Not having your starters is always going to have an influence," he said. "You can't put as much pressure on people, you have to go deeper on your bench. The thing I like is that the kids we're playing are getting steadily better, and I do trust that the girls we put out there will do well. I think Liz and Jill have really grown up for us the last few games, and they look a lot more comfortable in their varsity roles."
GRAND ISLAND CENTRAL CATHOLIC 41, HASTINGS ST. CECILIA 37
HASTINGS ST. CECILIA (9-6)
K. Chalupa 1-4 2-2 4, Rundle 3-5 0-0 7, Jackson 1-1 0-0 3, Boyd 0-2 0-0 0, Farmer 3-16 0-0 6, Dubas 3-7 5-7 11, Batenhorst 2-2 0-0 4, Schmidt 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 14-43 7-9 37.
CENTRAL CATHOLIC (15-6)
Moravec 2-7 0-0 4, Stump 1-9 0-2 3, Fredrickson 4-10 2-2 12, Galloway 0-2 0-0 0, Ross 0-1 1-2 1, McGowan 3-9 0-0 6, Scheel 1-2 0-0 2, Statler 5-13 3-3 13. Totals 16-53 6-9 41.
St. Cecilia 8 6 13 1037
Central Catholic 6 11 9 1541
3-Point goalsHSC 2-9 (K. Chalupa 0-1, Rundle 1-2, Jackson 1-1, Farmer 0-4, Dubas 0-1), GICC 3-19 (Moravec 0-1, Stump 1-9, Fredrickson 2-2, Galloway 0-2, Ross 0-1, McGowan 0-3, Statler 0-1). Fouled outNone. ReboundsHSC 33 (Rundle 7), GICC 33 (Statler 11). AssistsHSC 7 (Farmer 3), GICC 8 (Stump 3). TurnoversHSC 20, GICC 13. Total foulsHSC 9, GICC 11. TechnicalsNone.
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