St. Francis Girls Hoops Closes Season
Semi-Finals
Junior League
Buckeyes 11, Crush 4 – Rhiannon Arnold led the way with eight points for the Buckeyes, who built a 9-0 lead en-route to a 11-4 victory. Arnold scored four of her points in the opening half, where the Buckeyes held a 5-0 lead, but her biggest bucket came after the Crush had closed the lead to 9-4. After receiving a pass, Arnold took a dribble and then calmly nailed a shot from beyond the three-point arch. Mya Matarazzo finished with one field goal and Emma Czwakiel netted a free throw for the Buckeyes, who started the season on a six game winning streak before going on a five game loosing streak. Samantha Morin player her best game of the year for the Crush, scoring four points and playing well on the defensive end.
Celtics 8, Eagles 5 – The top-seeded Celtics got another strong game from Coleen Hardy and held off the upset-minded Eagles, 8-5. The Eagles, behind three points from Grace Capuccio, took at 3-1 advantage into the second half but could not hold off the Celtics. After tying the score at 3-3, Hardy collected a 3-point play to provide her team with some separation.
On Friday night at 6:30PM, the Celtics will take on the Buckeyes to determine the 2010 champion of the Junior League.
Senior League
Tar Heels 25, Angels 16 – Siobhan Turner and Deanna Hardy helped the Tar Heels pull away from the pesky Angels to advance to the finals. Holding onto a slim 10-9 advantage at halftime, Hardy netted seven of her nine points in the second half while Turner recorded three of her five field goals in the last sixteen minutes. The Tar Heels held a slim lead throughout most of the game and went just 1-for-14 from the foul line. Jessica Brennan and Kelly Foley each finished with six points for the Angels, who played well despite no substitutes.
Nets 20, Dragons 19 – The Nets went without a point over the final 5:55 of the contest but held on for a one point victory. Nicole Regan’s basket with just under six minutes to go gave the Nets a 20-11 lead, their largest lead of the game. Rebecca Pierce scored the first ten points of the game for the Nets, who also got some good contributions from Sophia Zavarelli and Lachae’a Censcak. Nina Parziale scored all seven of her points in the second half, but she would gladly return one of those points. With just 2.2 seconds remaining, Parziale sank a baseline jumper to pull the Dragons to within two points. After calling a pair of time outs, the Dragons hoped to get an offensive rebound to tie the game and send it to overtime but Parziale’s free throw rolled in rather than out. The Nets will now take on the Tar Heels on Friday night at 7:45PM for the championship.
Souls4Soles
St. Francis Girls’ Basketball would like to thank all those that donated shoes to their Barefoot4Haiti collection. As a result of your generosity we were able to collect 325 lbs. of shoes!
– Submitted by Brian Devine