St. John Baptizes Molloy

The run came without precedent or reason, like their two previous fourth quarters, the spurts that garnered Archbishop Molloy the first CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan crown in school history.
Trailing St. John the Baptist 33-17, on the verge of being run out of the Mack Sports Complex at Hofstra University in the Catholic State Class AA final, the Stanner surge began.
It started with two free throws from Kelly Guerriero, then a 3-pointer, her third of the night. Nicole Marciniak followed with a basket, Kerri White sank two free throws and Marciniak scored again, drawing the fourth foul on Christine Huber (19 points, 20 rebounds), the Cougars’ dominant junior center.
Just like that, the lead was down to seven, 35-28, 4:39 remaining on the clock.
“I said here we go again,” Molloy interim coach Dom Cecala recalled. “We’re back to our fourth quarter magic.”
Only their pixie dust ran out. Marciniak missed the free throw and the Stanners did not score again. Their dream season ended last Sunday, 42-28, to St. John, the defending Class AA state champions.
Molloy did not have an answer for the 6-foot-4 Huber in the paint, on either end of the court. They struggled against the Cougars’ pressure defense, and were unable to make nearly enough shots even when granted open looks.
“Their defense,” White said, “controlled the game.”
The future is nevertheless bright in Briarwood. Only White and center Molly Dreyer graduate. The core of five sophomores - Guerriero, Kelly Robinson, Elise Lontos, Marielle Duryea and Kyra Aloizos - should only improve, as should be the case with juniors Marciniak and Shannon LaVelle. The jayvee team, also coached by Cecala, won the city championship.
“They’re going to get better every year,” White said. “As they grow older, they could be deadly.”
However, this team will forever have their place at Molloy, as the first group to beat Christ the King in the regular season and the ones to end their 23-year Diocesan dominance. It did not result in a trip upstate for the Federation crown, but for a team who switched coaches midway through the year, found itself in fifth place at one point, and was nearly knocked out by Mary Louis in the semifinals, it was a miraculous transformation.
“We’ve accomplished so much,” said Guerriero, who led the Stanners with 14 points. “We’ll always be known as the team that beat King. We’ll always be known as the team that went this far.”
Said Cecala: “Nobody in the world can ever take away what we accomplished this year as a basketball team.”