by Two Historic and Classic North East Ohio Catholic High Schools were in Parma on Saturday night for a Girls Varsity Basketball game. The Lady Bruins of Padua took on the Lake Catholic Lady Cougars.
The game was a rematch from earlier in the week when the Padua Squad won a big game on the road Monday night. The rematch started like both teams were tired and both teams tried to over compensate by running a track meet. What it turned into was the first minute of the game being all turnovers and no points.
Then Bruin Senior Guard Arianna Pomirleanu hit two free throws and a nice jumper for the first four points of the game. The problem for Padua was that would be all the points they would muster in the quarter. Meanwhile Lake Catholic missed a ton of shots in the first. Many shots just missed or rimmed out of the basket. One had the feeling that eventually the Cougar Girls would start converting those shots. The score at the end of the quarter was 7 to 4 Cougar lead.
In the second quarter Padua actually won the scoring battle 9 to 8. The player that stepped up for the Bruins was Freshman Guard Audrey Butler. Padua Head Coach Jay Valadez shows a lot of confidence in the young player, by playing a Freshman so many minutes. Butler made the coaches decision pay off with a beautiful jumper and an and one for a five point second.
On the Cougar side of the court, their offense was struggling not because of poor shooting, but because of the stifling defense of the Lady Bruins. It wasn’t just one player bringing the D, it was a complete and total defensive effort from Padua. It was a block and steal fest lead byJunior players Alyssa Weber, and Mallory Keaveny, both showed the defensive intensity it takes to stop a very good offensive team like the Cougars.
In fact Lake Catholic had only scored two points in the quarter, when Cougar Senior Mia Udovcic made a tough inside bucket, and 30 seconds later, Junior Guard Mia Sassano made a beautiful layup off a steal with just 1:36 left in the half. With just 12 seconds left, Cougar Head Coach Michael Pecjak called a timeout, and dialed up an offensive play that worked beautifully. Sassano this time hits a sweet jump shot from the left wing a serious buzzer beater as the ball was in the air as the second quarter expired. Halftime score was LC 15, Padua 13.
In the second half it seemed the Cougars had learned from the drubbing they had taken at home to the Bruins just five days before. While Padua struggled again putting up any offense, the Lady Cougars finally got their offense in gear by pouring in 15 points for the third. Four different Cougar girls put in buckets for the 8 minutes session. Sassano again went 4-4 from the line and also a field goal for a six point third. Udovcic had a nice put back, and once again the last minute belonged to Lake Catholic. This time #13 Junior Guard Rachel Tallion, hit two shots and the second being a three as she finished strong for five points. Cougar lead now 30 to 15.
The fourth quarter was basically mop up duty as both teams played a lot of non starters, and Padua only had 6 points for the fourth. Lake Catholic had a respectable 11 points as five girls got in the scoring column. Freshman Forward Carmella Sowers had a nice inside basket, and Senior Guard Sophia Pecjak had a sweet three from the top of the key. The final score was 41 to 23. A big win for the Lake Catholic Lady Cougars!
