by A highly emotional and physical rematch of last years regional semi final between Brush and Magnificat was not able to be contained in just 4 quarters and took overtime to decide a wild 46-38 game. A three-ball midway through overtime by Julia Hall and foul shots made by Hall and Reese Roggenburk sealed the deal late for the Blue Streaks.
I spoke with Reese and Julia about those moments late and the composure needed at the line to get it done, “It is a lot of pressure but taking deep breathes and going somewhere mentally where I can cancel everything out helps” said Julia Hall. Reese Roggenburk went on to agree when she said, “I look for my safe place and something that relaxes me so I can make them and get back to my team. “
It was a wild game right from the start with a lot of physical play, whistles being blown and just intensity off the charts, Magnificat head coach Danny Gallagher talks about how he was able to keep it all together and keep his team focused despite the chaotic atmosphere, “It was a crazy game and I have been doing this long enough to know anything may get thrown at you. We had a lot thrown at us today, but that is basketball. We preach all the time about us and our values and do things the right way. We preach about our values. The biggest one today was to be selfless and not selfish. “
In a game where points were hard to come by for a very long time, the Blue Streaks were led by Julia Hall with 19. Sofhia Wilson with 13 and Reese Roggenburk with 10. The scoring was rounded out with 3 by Gemma Wichman and 1 from Sophia Laporte.
The Lady Arc’s were led by Julianna Ferreria with 12 and Tatian Mason with 11 while Chaniyra McDowell-Isaacs had 8. They were rounded by Jakalyn with Brown with 4 and Keyarra Sheilds with 3.
It was only 1-0 at the 4-minute mark of the first quarter and the first field goal of the game didn’t come until Sofia Wilson nailed a three ball to increase the Blue Streak lead to 4-2 with 3:50 to play in the opening quarter. Mason answered with a three for the Arc’s and they ended up taking a 11-4 lead after the first quarter as they scored the quarters final 8 points.
The second quarter was more of the same, intense defense and low scoring. The three ball from Ferria at the 3:35 remaining mark, handed the Arcs their biggest lead of the game at 16-8. The Blue Streaks answered with 7 points to close out the quarter, including a three ball from Wilson at the buzzer to bring then to within 16-15 at the break.
The game went back and forth in the third before a three ball at the buzzer from Ferreria gave the Arc’s a 28-25 lead as we headed into the fourth. After the Arc’s scored the first bucket of the fourth to run their lead out to 30-25, the Blue Streaks responded with 7 straight points coming on a Wilson three pointer, 2 foul shots from Roggenburk and then a fast break from Wilson to put the Blue Streaks ahead 32-30. They couldn’t close it out in regulation however as the game headed to overtime all knotted up at 36 a piece.
In overtime, 2 minutes in, Hall hit a three to increase the Blue Streak lead to 40-36. From there, they used the clutch foul shooting from Hall and Roggenburk to capture the win.
