High school basketball: Steward girls bounce back for win over John Marshall

They had no chance.

How could they, after all, when an uncannily accurate barrage of long-range shots over their 1-2-2 zone lit them up almost before they’d broken a sweat?

How do we stem the tide? the Steward Spartans wondered collectively as their opponents from John Marshall jumped out to a 12-2 lead thanks to four 3-pointers without a miss in in the first three minutes of their first-round game in the 804 Coaches for Change Community Classic contested Friday at St. Christopher’s.  

Keep fighting, Coach Kara Bacile told them time and again. Stay strong. Stay focused. Work hard. Finish shots. If there’s time, there’s hope.

They did, there was, and when the clock ticked to zero, the Spartans celebrated a 58-46 victory that seemed unlikely, if not impossible, as their nightmarish first quarter unfolded.

“The biggest thing for us was digging in on the defensive end and getting on the glass to try and win some rebounds,” Bacile said. “I’m so proud of them.”

All told, the Justices (5-2) drained six triples in the first quarter. Tiara Herron and Rah’Janae Johnson hit two apiece, Ariel Almond and Michaela Lipscomb connected on one each, and JM took a seemingly commanding 21-10 lead into the second.

“When they came out and shot lights out in that first quarter, I thought, Maybe starting in zone wasn’t the best idea,” Bacile said. “Our energy wasn’t there. We went into man(-to-man) and got our girls a little more pumped up and moving. They responded well with that.”

Little by little, the Spartans (5-2) gained their equilibrium and began the long road back.

On the strength of solid inside play, they outrebounded JM 13-4 in the second quarter and trimmed their deficit to 26-19 at the half.

After three quarters, the Justices lead had dwindled to a tenuous 39-34.

“Kara told us to punch first, but we got lackadaisical and fell backwards on our feet,” said Ella Grace Saunders, a 5-10 senior guard who contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. “We had to pick ourselves up. It was our teammates helping each other out and saying, ‘It’s OK.’

“We missed some layups, but we stayed together and stayed poised. That’s what got us through.”

The Spartans intensified their defensive effort in the fourth quarter, controlled the paint, ran their offense as fluidly as possible despite the Justices’ passionately played full-court pressure, and sank their free throws with Zen-like calm down the stretch.

With tension mounting, Steward’s Savannah Martin hit 2-of-2 from the line at 5:38 to cut JM’s lead to 39-36.

Herron’s floater from the lane at 5:14 restored the Justices’ 5-point advantage.

Saunders answered with a put-back at 4:59. Lipscomb’s jumper from the left wing at 4:41 increased the JM lead to 43-38.

At 4:46, Saunders drilled a 3 from the right wing. 

Avery Peterson’s free throw at 3:25 cut JM’s advantage to 43-42.

Then, at 2:29, Lilly Thoman (nine points, six rebounds, seven assists) drove baseline, hit the layup, drew a foul, and converted the and-1 to give the Spartans a 45-43 lead they never relinquished.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the score is,” Saunders said. “We just focus on playing our hardest every play. That always gets us back in the game and pushes us forward.

“We never have any doubt that we can come back. There’s always a chance with us. We know how to bounce back. We’re a very gritty team. We just had to work a little harder, work a little bit more together, and do the little things.”

At 2:10, Avery Peterson scored from close range in heavy traffic off a Thoman assist, drew a foul, and hit the free throw for a 48-43 Spartans’ lead.

Though down, the Justices were undeterred.

Jaylin Whittles’ bank off the glass following a Lipscomb assist made it 48-45 Steward and still anyone’s game with 1:54 remaining.

After Kerringtyn Williams layup at 1:39 put Steward up 50-45, Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws at 1:23 for JM.

Buckets from close range by Saunders and Thoman and Thoman’s 4-for-4 touch from the line enabled Steward to close with an 8-0 run to complete the comeback and seal the victory.

“We just had to stay poised and trust in our ability to score,” said Peterson, a 5-11 sophomore whose ledger read 18 points and 13 rebounds. “We had no doubt that we could come back. We had to trust our teammates, look inside, pass it out, and don’t get down on ourselves when we miss a shot.”

The Spartans shot 19-for-59, collected 41 rebounds (20 offensive, 21 defensive), dealt 14 assists, and hit 13-of-16 free throws including 9-of-10 in the fourth quarter. 

John Marshall connected on 17-of-41 shots (including 7-of-10 in the first quarter) and secured 26 rebounds. Herron scored 20 points. Johnson added 10.

“It’s a four-quarter game,” Bacile said. “At the half, we were down, but we told them, ‘We’re doing a lot of good things. We just need to finish.’ It was a collective job well done.”