Both teams struggle to find rhythm
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville’s Nafisa Saunders battles past a Shanahan defender, Tuesday night.
CALN – A late second quarter surge and good defense in the closing minutes allowed Bishop Shanahan to come out with a scrappy 45-37 victory at Coatesville on Tuesday night.
Perhaps due to the snow keeping the teams from practicing, Tuesday night’s game saw frequent turnovers by both teams, but the Eagles won the turnover battle in crunch time, allowing the visitors to bleed the clock and produce points off of Coatesville turnovers.
“I have to keep reminding myself that they’re kids, and they’re going to make some plays that probably aren’t the best decisions in the world, but we made less of them tonight than we have in the last few games,” said Shanahan Coach Fran Burbidge.
Both teams came out of the gate playing aggressively on both sides of the ball, looking to force passes and playing physical defense.
Coatesville jumped out to a lead in the opening minutes, but a three point play by Shanahan’s sophomore Grace Phillips gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ lead did not last long, with Coatesville’s junior guard Nafisa Saunders grabbing a steal and driving the length of the floor to give her team a 12-8 lead early in the second.
“That’s our strength [the fast break]. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” said Coatesville Coach Fred Ellzy.
The home side’s momentum did not last long. A foul against Coatesville and a technical on the ensuing free throws gave Shanahan four foul shots. Two made shots and a three a few minutes later put the visitors back in the lead, 13-12.
The teams found their rhythm, and the game stayed close through most of the second quarter. Fast break points and fouls abounded on both sides, and the game was locked at 21 a piece with less than two minutes left.
However, Shanahan senior Kristin Habbel grabbed the lead for her team. A three with less than a minute left and a steal that ended in a drive gave the Eagles a 28-21 lead going into halftime.
The break seemed to kill the momentum that both teams managed to find before the half.
Defense dominated the third quarter. The teams only combined for 10 points with six of them coming off free throws. The quarter went in Shanahan’s favor, though allowing the visitors to stretch the lead to 34-25 going into the final eight minutes.
Coatesville managed to cut into the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In her final home game, senior guard Irelynn Donovan ran the offense for much of the night and hit a pullup jumper to make the score 34-29 in the opening minutes.
However, Shanahan seemed to have Coatesville’s offense figured out, consistently clogging the lanes on drives. Shanahan senior Kathleen Wirshup came up with a couple of late steals and finished them with layups to swing the game whenever Coatesville managed to build any momentum.
The Eagles showed solid perimeter passing late, allowing them to evade Coatesville pressure and bleed out the clock to take the game to a 45-37 finish.
