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The two teams traded three-pointers in the early stages of the first quarter. St. Joseph knocked down 4 in the first quarter with two from Ella Neitzel while Gia Piscitelli had two of three for the Blazers. Neitzel scored 8 of her 10 points in the first quarter alone.
It was a feeling-out process for both teams early in the game as the Blazers Lucy Castellanos was the spark with 8 points in the first quarter only down by 1 point at the end of the first 20-21.
St. Johns Ava Haddad came alive in the second quarter as she scored 7 of her 12 first-half points in the second quarter. The six-foot senior forward wore down the Hathaway Brown defense with her presence in the low post and her ability to finish those high percentage shots in the paint as St Joseph took a 33-27 lead into halftime.
Hathaway Brown struggled to get anything going in the third quarter where they only scored two points for the entire third quarter. Meanwhile, St. Joseph kept the foot on the gas and scored 10 points in the third quarter with Abbey Flannery scoring six of her 11 points in the third as St Joseph’s began to pull away 45-29 after Three.
In the fourth quarter, Ava Haddad finished what she started by having a solid final quarter with seven points bringing her game total to 21 points and a St. Josephs win as they defeat Hathaway Brown 61-45. Along with Ava Haddad’s 21 point performance,
Jaguars Head Coach Karen Swanson Haan made defense adjustments after a sluggish first quarter. “We had a really poor defensive first quarter, once we switched to zone we settled in on defense and the girls executed it really well”, said Haan. The switch proved to be a success as they held Hathaway Brown to 19 total second-half points.
A correction on defense was a key to victory as HC Haan and @SJA_hoops get the win as they defeat @hb_basketball 61-45 @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/SOQtNjSxP5
— Edwin Vereen (@TheRealEddyKool) February 23, 2022
For Hathaway Brown, Lucy Castellanos had a valiant effort for her team as she finished with 13 points for the Blazers while teammate Gia Piscitelli finished with 11 points as they were the only players on their team to have double digits in scoring. Castellanos (Lucy) was relentless throughout the night as she was attacking the basket at every chance that was available and would stop-and-pop when open, but the size of St. Joseph really made it difficult for Castellanos and company.
With tonight’s win, St. Joseph’s advances in the playoffs as they will face the Wadsworth Grizzlies who survived a 46-36 slugfest over Medina.
