By Christine Sampson
Which is what frustrated Molloy junior E.J. Dreyer, who was sitting on the bench with four personal fouls while the St. Francis Prep girls' basketball team slowly and steadily erased Molloy's 13-point lead during the fourth quarter of Saturday's game at Prep.Dreyer has had to take on some of the league's toughest defensive assignments in the absence of injured star Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, and Saturday was no different, as she went up against Prep's leading scorer Gina Catherall.Catherall, with her main defender in foul trouble, sparked her team with seven of her team-high 15 points during a 16-3 run that turned Molloy's 37-23 lead into a mere 40-39 advantage with four minutes left in the game. But that's when Dreyer returned to the game, shut down her charge, made a key defensive play and helped Molloy finish with a 49-41 win over the Terriers.”Sometimes she might zone out mentally, get a couple of fouls she normally wouldn't get,” Molloy coach Marty Towey said of Dreyer. “She was a calming effect when she got back in.”Dreyer, who had picked up her fourth foul 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, returned with Molloy leading 40-39. Catherall put the Terriers (5-15, 2-7 CHSAA) on track to overtake the Stanners, but with Dreyer back on her tail, the junior point guard couldn't score again. She also set up teammate Janine Maser for a trey that gave Molloy a 43-39 lead with 3:41 left. The Stanners added some more distance with 6-of-6 shooting at the foul line after that.With Prep down 49-41 with 40 seconds left, Josephine Raccuglia grabbed an offensive rebound and passed outside to Catherall, who attempted a 3-pointer. Raccuglia rebounded again and tried again to feed Catherall outside, but Dreyer made a steal and took it down the court, where she and her teammates ran out the clock.Dreyer, who scored just 2 points but had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots, was relieved to be able to help her team secure the win, which gave Molloy (11-12, 6-4) a tie with Bishop Loughlin for second place in the league.”I usually have like two (fouls), tops,” she said. “When you have more you just have to play more conservatively.”Sophomore center Angelina Waterman had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Molloy, and NYU-bound Jessica McEntee scored a game-high 19 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Molloy.Maiza Mock added eight points for SFP, which took cues from a huge Senior Night crowd during its fourth quarter run.”I think our kids gave 100-percent,” Prep coach JoAnn Wagner said. “Whenever we needed to get a basket we had a couple of good looks, but couldn't get it.”McEntee reflected on Dreyer's performance as evidence of a team which is growing more comfortable playing without one of its best players – just in time for the playoffs to start.”We've had a lot of time without Roz,” she said, “so everyone's getting a little more confident.”Christ the King 67, Bishop Loughlin 44. Tina Charles had 22 points and 21 rebounds and Nakejia Kelly added 10 points and 14 rebounds for CK, which remained perfect at 21-0, 10-0 CHSAA-I Monday. Charles also totaled 27 points and 13 rebounds and Kelly scored 20 in CK's 67-54 win Saturday over Archbishop Carroll (Pa.), formerly the No. 17-ranked team in the country.St. John's Prep 48, Stella Maris 45. Meghan Foley scored 17 points for St. John’s (8-7, 8-6 CHSAA-II) Saturday.
