Irish knock off Myer in OT
Ava DeChellis went from zero to hero in a manner of minutes Thursday night.
The 14-year-old, Grade 9 student atoned for a pair of key misses at the foul line with a game-winning bucket in overtime as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish edged the A.N. Myer Marauders 39-35 in a championship round semifinal game Thursday at the Second Annual BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Irish advance to play the No. 1 seed Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs Friday at 7 p.m. at Governor Simcoe for the tournament championship.
DeChellis missed two free throws with eight seconds remaining with the scored tied at 35-35, but more than made up for it when she stole the ball at half court and went in for an easy layup with just over a minute remaining in extra time and the score still deadlocked at 35-35.
“It made me feel great,” DeChellis said. “You just have to keep your head up after your mistakes.”
The final few minutes of the game saw multiple misses and turnovers by both sides.
“It was insane,” DeChellis said. “It was crazy and so much pressure. The intensity was up and it was just a great game.”
DeChellis gave up travel basketball this season to concentrate on soccer but the lure of the court was too much and she tried out for the school team.
“We mesh together really well,” she said. “We have people from Grade 9, 10 and 11 and 12. It doesn’t matter about age, everyone just blends in well.
“It’s great to have a team you can trust and count on.”
Notre Dame coach Pat O’Leary would have loved to see his team show more consistency on offence.
“It was frustrating. We really struggled to put the ball in the net. It was hard to watch. It wasn’t pretty basketball,” he said.
On the other hand, he loved how his charges managed to get the job done.
“I’m extremely proud,” he said. “I feel bad. I really shortened my bench and there are some very capable players. I don’t know if I’m making the right decision but I went with what I thought would work and we pulled it out.”
The Irish are now in tough versus a deep and talented Bulldogs squad.
“It’s a great experience for us,” O’Leary said. “They’re obviously battle tested and they’ve gone far in some really big tournaments. We’re going to be in tough, no question about it.”
The Irish were playing with heavy hearts after the death Wednesday night of Father Jim Mulligan, a long-time teacher and priest at the school.
“It was definitely a quieter day at school for sure,” O’Leary said.
Myer coach Katie Harpur lamented her squad’s miscues.
“Basketball is a game of mistakes,” she said. “That game was on us. We made the mistakes and they’re things we can control. We have a rematch with them hopefully next week so we can take a couple of things away and know what we have to do.
“We’ve got a young team. We have very limited Grade 12s and it’s a learning experience. These games are the big games. We’re seeing zones, full-court press, things we haven’t seen yet. It’s an opportunity for us to get better as a team and individually.”
STATS PACK
Fighting Irish 39 Marauders 35 OT
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Notre Dame’s Nicole Dixon with a team leading 17 points.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Dixon 17; Ava DeChellis 9; Emma Hemphill 9; Lila DiPietro 3; Nicole Bittman 2; Lauren Briggs 1.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Carly Casciano 8; Maia Walker 6; Jenna Sadler 5; Marielle Zapata 5; Sophia Kotsanis 4; Mya Pierini 3; Emma Vanditelli 3; Melia Kotsanis 1.
Up next: The Fighting Irish tangle with the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs Friday at 7 p.m. at Governor Simcoe for the tournament championship.
The tournament is made possible with the help of primary sponsors, Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tailgates Bar and Grill and Tora Inc., and secondary sponsors, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, Niagara Rangers basketball and the Niagara District Referees Association.
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