By Anthony Bosco
The St. Francis Prep Terriers used team speed and the lack of size to their advantage during the second half of the Catholic High School Athletic Association ‘B’ state girls’ basketball championship Sunday, running away with a 63-49 win over Holy Angels (Buffalo).
Holy Angels led Prep 15-10 after one, but St. Francis took the lead after two, heading into halftime with a 27-25 edge. Still, head coach Tom Finn knew his team would have to make some adjustments.
“They had a very big height advantage,” Finn said. “I think early they packed it back in a little bit of zone. But there’s a downside having big girls. At halftime we wanted to pick the tempo up and see if those big kids could get up and down the court. It basically made the difference.”
The difference was an 18-7 scoring edge in the Terriers’ favor during the third quarter that pretty much decided the game. Prep center Caitlin Kennedy was able to beat the Angels’ big players down court for easy transition baskets, which turned the tide.
St. Francis also buckled down defensively in the second half.
“We pushed and we pressed a little, which was something we didn’t do in the first half,” Finn said. “When we’ve been successful, that’s what we’ve done.”
Dawn Gorynski led Prep with 19 points and Kennedy added 13.
Prep (22-7) advances to play for the State Federation Class ‘B’ championship against Poughkeepsie’s Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes beat St. Francis in the title game last year and when the teams met Dec. 16, with Lourdes squeaking out a 45-38 victory.
Finn, however, thinks his team will better prepared this time around.
Guard Jenna Viani leads a Lourdes team that will hold a significant size advantage over the Terriers, Finn said.
“We want to keep Viani under control and our kids are going to have to work hard off the boards,” he said “They’re not afraid to bang it inside. We want to be in the situation where we dictate the tempo of the game.
“We had a very tough schedule,” Finn added. “The reason we play those game is because when it gets to this time of year, if we play our game, we can play with anybody. We will be there. We are going to show up.”
The last time the two teams played Prep outscored Lourdes 17-8 in the fourth quarter, doing the same things that helped the club beat Holy Angels last week.
“We’re going to have to make them run,” Finn said. “It’s going to be the same type of game.”
St. Francis Prep 60, Holy Trinity 45. The Terriers advanced to the finals with this win over the Titans last Wednesday. Gorynski led the way with 26 points and Elizabeth Yuneman added 10, all in the fourth quarter, in which Prep outscored Trinity 23-8.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
