The Holy Cross girls basketball team’s coaching staff knew what their team was in for when it played Mercy in Tuesday night’s CPTV Sports Tip-Off Classic at Maloney High School in Meriden.
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| Aiyana Ward (32) follows through on a foul shot. |
The Tigers were the top seed in Class LL and reached the quarterfinals. In 2014 and 2015, Mercy reached the semifinals in ‘LL’.
The Tigers are a perennial Class LL power, and the Crusader coaches knew the task was a big one.
Holy Cross couldn’t have expected what Mercy threw at it.
The Tigers ran off 15 straight points to open the game and ran away with a 58-37 victory. Mercy, which lost to a solid Daniel Hand team to open the season, improved to 1-1. For Holy Cross, it was the first loss (2-1).
The Crusaders competed against a Class LL school for the first and only time this season. It was a chance for Holy Cross to see where it stood against a powerful program, and also what it needs to work on. The Crusaders play in Class L this season because of postseason success. After games against Wolcott (tomorrow) and Derby on Thursday, Holy Cross plays Class L Lauralton Hall on Dec. 30 in another challenging non-league game.
The Tigers blitzed the Crusaders for nearly six minutes before Aiyana Ward her team on the board with a free throw at the 2:10 mark of the first quarter. Holy Cross’s first field goal didn’t come until nearly 30 seconds were gone in the second quarter. It was 30-10 at halftime.
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| Meah Austin (14) gets a pat on the back from head coach Frank Lombardo. |
What went wrong? Holy Cross couldn’t get a shot to fall, when it got one off. The Crusaders had issues with the length and height of the Tigers, who used it to their advantage time and again. Mercy blocked shots and forced turnovers, then took off down the other end. When the Crusader defense slowed them down, the Tigers used their height and snagged offensive rebounds.
To Holy Cross’s credit, it came out with a ton of intensity in the second half. Ward made a nice move for two points, then Idalis Miranda buried a 3-pointer. The Crusaders ratcheted up the defensive pressure and forced some turnovers. Holy Cross tallied 14 points in the third quarter, more than it had in the first half. Still, Mercy maintained a 43-24 lead after three quarters.
The Crusaders continued to fight in the fourth quarter and were outscored 15-13 in the final eight minutes.
The result says it was a lopsided loss, and it was. Holy Cross, however, showed a lot of heart and hustle, and it even outrebounded the larger Mercy players at times.
Ward and Meah Austin, both listed at 5-foot-10, battled inside against the likes of 6-footers Meghan DeVille and Samantha Chapps. In the starting lineup alone, Mercy’s starters were all between 5-5 and six feet. There were several Tigers off the bench that were around 5-7 to 5-9. Besides height, the Tigers had length.
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| Idalis Miranda led Holy Cross with 13 points. |
Holy Cross’s starting lineup = 5-10, 5-10, 5-2, 5-5, 5-5.
Still, the Crusaders battled, and it wasn’t just Ward and Austin. Head coach Frank Lombardo played most of his bench, and they came out with some good intensity. Miranda led Holy Cross with 13 points (3 3-pointers), all in the second half. Austin scored seven points, Ward tallied six points, and Natalie Hodak added five points. Gabby Goldman, Devon Eason and Allie Brown each had one basket for two points.
Holy Cross learned some lessons on Tuesday night, and the Crusaders will take them through the rest of their three-game, three-day slate.
