by Cover photo by Jenn Pleban Photography
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A staple of St. Josephs Head Coach Karen Swanson Haan teams has been a stifling press defense that leads to offense. It has stopped some of the best scoring attacks in their tracks dating back to her time leading Westlake. They did that again today as the Jaguars took down the Comets 61-16 in Playoff action.
This Jaguar team is loaded and deep and will make a serious run at a State Title if this keeps up. Today they had 9 different players score. This included 3 players in double digits as Bridget Chambers had 10, Ella Neitzel 14 and Ava Haddad with 11. Charlotte Adler also came up big with 8 while Maddie Roth had 6.
As a team they had 61 points, and only 9 from beyond the arc. That shows a dominant inside presence and an incredible ability to get to the hoop. This is one of the key factors that can lead to a postseason run, when a team doesn’t have to solely rely on outside shooting and can attack the rim. Yet another staple of the Karen Swanson Haan style. Doing the little things, solid fundamentals and winning games because of it.
Kaya Ferancy picked up where she left off last night by sinking a three pointer to start the game for the Comets. A few moments later, a Jules Gelding bucket would make it 5-2 Comets. It was then that St. Joes Karen Swanson-Haan called for the vaunted press and it instantly worked. The Jaguars would go on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 15-5 lead.
It was a blitzkrieg of defense creating offense as the Comets struggled to get the ball past midcourt. Time and time again the Jaguars would take it away and create points. During the stretch it was Haddad with 4, Neitzel with 2, Adler with 4 and Chambers with 3 more to go with her opening bucket.
A Kayla Ferancy drive would stop the bleeding momentarily at 15-7. The Jaguars would finish the quarter up 19-7. Ava Haddad was a presence in the middle for them as she finished the quarter with 6, and seemed to have her way in the key anytime she wanted to.
The Jaguars would cool a bit to start the second quarter, as they were held without a point for the first 5 minutes of the period. The Comets used this stretch to slowly climb back in it and cut the lead to 19-13 with 2:53 left to play.
A Bridget Chambers bucket would stop the draught and extend the lead to 21-13. From there it was the same exact recipe they used in the first quarter.
Make a basket, apply the press, get a steal, make another basket, pull away for good. The half would end with the Jaguars holding a commanding 28-13 lead as they ended the half on a 9-0 run.
In one of the most dominant 8-minute sessions in OHSAA playoff basketball history, the Jaguars took full advantage of tired Amherst legs and perhaps freshmen nerves, and just poured it on.
They outscored the Comets 23-0. By the time the quarter was done, it was 51-13 after 3 quarters. This St. Josephs roster is too deep and too good to ever “call off the dogs” and the fourth quarter became more of the same as they finished things off with a 15-3 quarter, which resulted in a 38-3 half, and 66-16 final.
Congrats to Amherst Head Coach Jay Valadez as his young team of Freshmen and Sophomores had their share of positive moments of growth this season. Congrats to head coach Karen Swanson Haan of SJA, she took a chance leaving Westlake to come to Joe’s, and today she proved she can win anywhere in the postseason.
Photo by Jackie Roberts
