By Anthony Bosco
The Archbishop Molloy Stanners easily advanced to the girls’ CHSAA Class C state championship this past weekend with a 61-33 drubbing over Nardin Academy at Canisius College in Buffalo.
The Stanners were led by Jessica McEntee’s 15 points, followed by Rosalyn Gold-Onwude with 12 points and 10 rebounds, Keri-Anne Jetter with 11 and Jen Kelleher with 8 points and 15 rebounds.
“We’re ecstatic,” said head coach Marty Towey, who guided the team to a 20-8 record in only its second year on the varsity level. “We think we can run the table in the ‘C’; We’ve set that as one of our goals. One of our goals was to win 20 games and we’re at that now.”
Molloy (20-8) used more than just its potent offense to defeat Nardin, a team renowned for its three-point shooting. Using what Towey called “in-your-face defense,” Molloy played rigorous man-to-man defense and tried to contest every shot.
Gold-Onwude and E.J. Dryer switched on and off covering Nardin’s Jamie Wolff, who went into the game as the all-time leading three-point shooter in school history. Wolff finished with just 10 points.
“We just made her work for it,” Towey said. “That was pretty much it. They took a lot of threes. You live and die by the three. They were very good outside shooters, but they didn’t have much of an inside game. We tried to limit their outside shots.”
Molloy set the tone early, racing out to a 15-5 lead after one and a 32-11 advantage at the half. The lead was 31 after three, 50-19.
“We’ve been telling the girls not be satisfied with anything less than winning the state championship,” Towey said. “And they’re set on that now.”
Molloy advanced to play the winner of Wednesday’s showdown between Our Lady of Mercy (Syosset) and Notre Dame (Staten Island) Sunday at St. John’s University at 3 p.m.
Sacred Heart 54, The Mary Louis Academy 47. Carol Kavanaugh scored 16 and Rachele Burriesci added 10, but the Mary Louis Hilltoppers were not able to get by Sacred Heart in the CHSAA Class D semifinals Saturday at Canisius College. Mary Louis falls to 5-21.
Mount Mercy 59, St. Francis Prep 54. The Terriers will not get a chance to defend their CHSAA Class B crown, losing to Mount Mercy by five. Prep overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to tie the game at the half, 27-27. The game was tied at 54 apiece in the final minute when Jill Ratchuk hit two free throws to put Sacred Heart ahead for good.
CK in finals: The Christ the King varsity girls’ basketball team will play St. Peter’s (Staten Island) in the CHSAA Class A title game Sunday at 5 p.m. at St. John’s University.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
