by E. Jay Zarett
Though it got quite nervous at the end, the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team found a way to hold off Bishop Grimes in last Thursday night’s showdown of state-ranked championshipo contenders.
The Gaelic Knights saw a 12-point lead cut by the Cobras to just three in the final minute, but that would be as close as it would get Ludden drained three free throws in the game’s final seconds to hang on for a 51-45 victory.
“We got the job done,” Gaelic Knights head coach Nicole McManus said. “It’s always good to win at Grimes. (But) we still have work to do.”
Both teams entered the game ranked in the state’s Class B top-25—Ludden at no. 8 and Grimes at no. 17—and were tied atop the OHSL Liberty American Division. The win moved Ludden (15-3, 10-1 league) into sole possession of first place, an occasion made even more important, said McManus, by the fact that her senior class had not prevailed before on the Cobras’ home court.
“It’s a big win,” McManus said. “It means a lot to these girls, especially the seniors, to get a win here.”
Late in the first quarter, the Gaelic Knights appeared to be in trouble. Already trailing, 11-5, Ludden saw point guard Danielle Rauch, pick up her second foul and, Rauch was forced to sit for the rest of the period.
Yet even with Rauch on the bench, Ludden cut its deficit to just two, and when she checked back in to start the second quarter, the Gaelic Knights went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-11 lead. Ludden would not trail again.
“We knew that we were going to face a storm,” McManus said about her team’s early deficit. “You’ve got to weather (it) and play smart. Danielle came right back in and we got things going.”
A 3-pointer by Grimes guard Abby Wilkinson cut the Gaelic Knights’ lead to just one, but back-to- back lay-ups by Laura Patulski and Rauch pushed the score to 27-22 heading into the break.
Ludden opened up the third quarter on another 6-0 run to push its advantage to double digits and it maintained that margin through the rest of the period. Rauch then scored five straight points to start the fourth, giving Ludden its largest lead of the contest, 46-34.
For the night, Rauch finished with 20 points, eight assists, five steals and five rebounds. She said the effort met her own high expectations.
“Before the game, I kind of knew I was going to have to do something like that,” Rauch said. “I knew I was going to have to go to the basket, go hard (and) look for my shot.”
Despite all this, Grimes wasn’t done. Over the next four minutes, the Cobras went on an 11-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back layups from Azariah Wade,to make it a one possession game. Wade finished with a game-high 22 points, with Wilkinson adding 16 points.
Still, in the waning seconds Patulski hit a free throw and forward Aurora Deshaies followed with two more, sealing the victory for Ludden. Deshaies grabbed 17 rebounds to go with her 14 points as Patulski added seven points and four rebounds, with Meg Sierotnik adding six points and four steals.
“We played well as a team,” Rauch said. “But I don’t think that’s the best we’ve played at all. I think we have a lot of untapped potential.”
