St. Joseph Catholic School girls basketball coach Suzette Suggs looked out onto the court with nothing but pride as she watched her Fighting Irish play their final moments of the season Thursday night in St. Joe’s 54-39 loss to Claiborne (La.) in the quarterfinals of the MAIS Class AA South State Tournament at Greenville Christian School.
Suggs’ Lady Irish finished the season with a 13-8 record. It’s the best record a St. Joe girls team has had in more than 30 seasons, according to Suggs.
“I am really proud of this team. They hustled all season long, and they never gave up,” Suggs said.
Claiborne jumped out to a double digit lead in the first half, but behind the solid leadership of senior Ashanti Brown the Lady Irish kept fighting back in the second half. A 3-point basket by Brown cut the Claiborne lead to 33-27 in with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
“I think fatigue played a big role for us at the end of the game,” Coach Suggs said. “We just ran out of gas.”
Brown led the Fighting Irish with 18 points, and Cha’Koriea Holmes scored eight points.
St. Joe freshman Emma Kate Threet said after the game she had so learned so much this season from her coach and older teammates.
“I learned that I can play basketball at this level, and I also learned what it takes to be a good teammate and how to cooperate with my teammates.”
