Salem Academy’s Lindsey Larsen (15), left, and Blanchet’s Sophia Poole (15) fight for the ball on the floor in the Blanchet vs. Salem Academy girl’s basketball game at Salem Academy High School on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2015.
Producing suffocating defensive pressure is one thing for a basketball team.
Doing that for the entirety of a 32-minute game against the No. 1-ranked team in the state is a different challenge.
Blanchet Catholic School’s girls basketball team went deep into its roster to keep No. 1-ranked Salem Academy in a physical contest the whole game, and the Cavaliers hit seemingly every clutch basket in the fourth quarter to upset the Crusaders 56-43 in a PacWest Conference game Thursday night.
“It’s tough, and that’s when we’ve been successful is doing that because teams will get tired,” Blanchet coach Ron Hittner said. “The nice thing this year is we’re pretty deep.
“We can go nine or 10 deep with our young kids so they can come right in, and most teams aren’t able to do that. Good teams go six or seven maybe, but we can keep our kids fresh and we can maintain.”
Blanchet (10-4, 3-0) takes early possession of the top spot in the conference over Salem Academy (12-2, 3-1).
It was the first time Blanchet beat Salem Academy since the conference playoffs in 2012.
“It’s been a while since we beat them,” said Blanchet senior Johanna Counts, who scored 16 points. “It’s been a long time. We can’t get too excited. We have to stay focused on the rest of the season.”
Blanchet led 11-2 in the first quarter after a three-point play by Erin Estabrook and was up 25-16 late in the second quarter.
Aimee Smith’s lay-in early in the second half cut Blanchet’s lead to 25-22, but Blanchet pulled the lead out to 33-24 on a 3-pointer by Counts with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
The Cavaliers got a lot of baskets in transitions and were aggressive going to the hoop, resulting in going 25 of 37 from the free-throw line.
Salem Academy’s Aimee Smith (5) stretches for the ball between Blanchet’s Erin Estabrook (24) and Ana Coronado (23) in the Blanchet vs. Salem Academy girl’s basketball game at Salem Academy High School on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2015.
“We don’t have the size to go inside and pound it in very much so we really have to rely on getting some fast-break buckets during the game, otherwise we’re going to have trouble scoring,” Hittner said.
Salem Academy cut Blanchet’s lead to 40-37 on a 3-pointer by Eva Hardy with 6:15 left.
With the Cavaliers leading 44-39 with just under three minutes left, junior Sophia Poole nailed a 3-pointer in the corner in transition.
Poole finished with 15 points, and was big at the free-throw line, going 4-for-4 in the final two minutes.
“She didn’t hit a lot of shots early, but the nice thing is this year she’s got a little bit of help so we got other players who can score,” Hittner said. “If she misses that shot, it’s not the end of the world for us.
“In the fourth quarter she was clutch with free throws, handling the ball, defense, that 3 she hit in the corner was huge because that was just a huge momentum piece there when she hit that one.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
Blanchet 56, Salem Academy 43
Blanchet: Johanna Counts 16, Sophia Poole 15, Coronado 9, Campbell 7, Estabrook 3, Collier 3, Phipps 2, Hittner 1, Sullivan. Totals 14 25-27 56.
Salem Academy: Aimee Smith 16, Em. Hardy 11, Ev. Hardy 8, Holman 2, Brown 2, Standridge 2, Baker 2, Holman, Larsen, Campbell. Totals 17 7-13 43.
|
Bla |
11 |
14 |
14 |
18 |
— 56 |
|
SA |
4 |
16 |
13 |
9 |
— 43 |
3-point goals: Blanchet 2 (Counts, Poole); Salem Academy 2 (Ev. Hardy 2).