The Terriers were blitzed in their attempt…
By Anthony Bosco
Tom Finn was not upset that his club, the St. Francis Prep girls’ varsity basketball team, came back from Glen Falls without the Class B State Federation championship. In fact, the coach was as proud as can be.
The Terriers were blitzed in their attempt to secure the crown, falling to Our Lady of Lourdes from Poughkeepsie, 78-51, in a game that was all but decided in the opening moments of the first quarter. Still, Finn could not look on the season as anything but a success.
“These kids, they worked hard, they overachieved,” Finn said. “The plaque that they give you says ‘state federation finalist.’ We got as far as we could possibly get and that’s an accomplishment.
“I’m proud of them,” the coach added. “Nobody picked them to do anything. We are the state Catholic high school champions and we qualified for Glens Falls. I think that’s a highly successful season.”
It was, Finn said, a mirror of last year’s team, which also won the state Catholic crown and lost to Lourdes in the Federation finals, 40-29, finishing with a 22-8 record.
Finn was hopeful before making the trip upstate last week that his team could finally dethrone the three-time champion Warriors. The two clubs met earlier this season, with Lourdes eking out a 44-38 win, something the coach thought his club could improve upon.
But those hopes were dashed early in their encounter Saturday, as Lourdes raced out to a 9-0 lead. St. Francis was down 26-15 after the first quarter and trailed 46-32 at the half. The Lourdes lead grew to 22 after three periods, 65-42. After that, Finn played most of his bench.
Junior Jenna Viani, Lourdes’ 5-foot-11 point guard, led the Warriors’ attack with 22 points and 12 assists, earning MVP honors for a second straight year. Her performance, coupled with Lourdes’ overall size advantage, crippled Prep’s offense and allowed the team to handle Prep’s press by going over the top with long inbound passes.
“They were big and they were deep,” Finn said. “We ran and in most games this year we were able to control the tempo of game. The best way to beat the press is to throw the ball over the top — they did that.
“They were a better team,” the coach added. “They may have been the best team up there in any division.”
Dawn Gorynski led St. Francis with 24 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Kristin Lee added nine points and five rebounds for the Terriers. Prep was outrebounded 43-20, while Lourdes shot 31-of-55 from the field. Prep made just 19-of-56 field goal attempts.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
