By Marc Raimondi
“I can see that look, that (means) she's gonna go in and take over,” said Cecala, the Archbishop Molloy girls' basketball coach.On Saturday afternoon, not only did the sophomore forward take over, she helped make history. Guerriero made two consecutive three-pointers with 1:19 left in overtime to give the Stanners a four-point lead and Marielle Duryea made 7-of-8 free throws after regulation to seal a 58-50 victory over Christ the King. It was the Royals' first CHSAA league loss since Jan. 19, 2000 against Bishop Loughlin, a winning streak of 108 games.”I really wanted it – it's Christ the King,” said Guerriero, who had 18 points. “This is probably the game we wanted most.”And it showed. Molloy (15-6, 5-3 CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I) led most of the game before a 13-2 run gave the Royals a 36-26 lead with 3:26 left in the third quarter. But CK (8-10, 6-1) could not put the game away, as it had so many times before in these situations. The Stanners' Manhattan-bound senior Kerri White (14 points) tied the game at 42 with 33.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime.That's when Guerriero took over. She put Molloy ahead, 44-42, to start OT and after Bianca Martinez's free throw tied the game at 46 for Christ the King, Guerriero made two straight threes. Duryea, a sophomore point guard, missed her first free throw in overtime, but made the next seven in a row. She scored nine of her 13 points after the third quarter.”It's basically like a life or death situation, it feels like,” Duryea said of being on the free-throw line with a chance to beat Christ the King. “I'm overjoyed right now. It can't even be explained. There are no words.”The last time the two teams played, a 58-39 CK win on Jan. 12, it marked a major turning point in Molloy's season. Sophomore guard Kelly Robinson (10 points) didn't play the whole first half against Christ the King in the first meeting, and then-coach John McGlynn benched White for the entire second half. That set off a chain of events which ended in McGlynn's resignation and Cecala, who is also the JV coach, taking over the team.”That loss just pushed us even harder,” White said. “We knew we could play better than that.”The Stanners certainly proved that Saturday. Royals star freshman Bria Smith (21 points) had only four points after the 4:09 mark of the third quarter, courtesy of Molloy physical play. “It actually felt like a dream right there,” Duryea said, describing the end of the game. “I've dreamed about it before.”Reach Associate Sports Editor Marc Raimondi by e-mail at mraimondi@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
