St. Catherine's rallies to claim Benedictine Capital City Classic girls title

It was a game of runs, and the victory went to the team that constructed the last and the longest.

That would be St. Catherine’s, which pulled itself out of a second quarter spiral with grit and hustle, erased a two-point halftime deficit, owned the final 16 minutes, and triumphed 59-40 over St. Gertrude in the girls division championship game of the Benedictine Capital City Classic contested Monday evening on the Rut Court in the McMurtrie-Reynolds Pavilion.

Sparked by four 3-pointers (three by Stella Shropshire, one by Maddie D’Onofrio), the host Gators (4-2) outscored the visitors 10-0 over a four-minute span and jumped to a 18-13 lead one quarter in. 

They’d extended their run to 16-2 when SC coach Ed Sherod called time 5:08 before halftime with his team trailing 24-13.

It was gut-check time.

The Saints’ 3-2 matchup zone wasn’t working as Sherod had hoped. 

A change was in order, for sure.

“When we went in there, we weren’t really clicking (on defense) like we’re supposed to,” the veteran coach said. “So we went to a man(-to-man) so we could put a little bit more pressure on their ball handlers.”

Newly energized, the Saints (5-2) launched into a 10-0 run of their own thanks to their defense-creates-offense mindset, renewed focus on the offensive end, and three gems from behind the 3-point arc (two by Ryan Lewis, one by Savannah Spaulding).

In a 2:15 span, they’d wrested the momentum and intensified their confidence.

The halftime message was clear.

“You have to do your job,” Sherod said. “Everything we had talked about, we weren’t doing. We told them, ‘Do what we do in practice, and the first five minutes of this half we’ll take care of it.’ That’s what happened.”

Indeed, it did.

Lewis, a 5-10 sophomore, opened the third quarter with a 3-ball from the left wing for a 31-30 SC lead.

D’Onofrio (11 points) penetrated the Saints’ defense for a layup at 6:07 to restore the Gators’ now-very-tenuous advantage.

Sherod’s crew then embarked upon a turnover-fueled 13-2 run that provided a 44-34 advantage entering the fourth.

“Our strong defense translated into getting back on offense really well,” said Paxton Raymond, a 5-9 senior co-captain. “We had a lot of steals that led to open layups that helped us continue our runs, and we were able to just break away in the second half.”

Lewis opened the fourth with a transition layup off a turnover, drew a foul, and hit the and-1.

All told, she drained five 3-pointers from various angles, often after receiving passes from the paint, and finished with 25 points, equaling her career high.

“On our break, if we kick the ball up quickly enough, their defense isn’t set up, which gets me open,” she said. “And, also, running our plays and executing them well can get me open for shots. 

“I think they were going under the screens and not playing up on me, which gave me the opportunity to shoot as much as I could.”

As the Gators, hampered by foul trouble much of the game, scrambled furiously to trim their deficit, Spaulding, a 5-10 junior guard and co-captain who contributed 14 points, assumed the responsibility of directing the Saints’ response.

“In most games, seeing a press can be kind of scary,” she said. “We had so much momentum and energy in this game that I wasn’t afraid of it. We were able to break it by working together to get the ball across the floor.”

Try as they might, the Gators had little success with Spaulding and Co.

“We were just trying to dribble to the open spot and get more people on offense so we could get a 3-on-2,” she said. “That was our plan.”

The Saints’ Spaulding (MVP), Lewis, Raymond, and the Gators’ Shropshire (11 points) and Allison Niederer earned all-tournament honors.

St. Catherine’s connected on 21-of-59 shots, collected 30 rebounds, and forced 23 turnovers while surrendering just seven. St. Gertrude hit 14-of-35 shots and had 34 rebounds.

“In the first half, we weren’t playing to our full potential,” said Spaulding. “In the second half, we came back, we knew we had to finish the game, and that’s what we did.”