The St. Joseph Catholic School Lady Irish (3-0) kept their distance over the final three quarters of Thursday night’s high school basketball game to claim a 55-47 victory over the St. Aloyisus Lady Lady Flashes.
St. Al closed to within three points of St. Joe at 33-30 in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
But The Lady Irish answered by establishing a presence on the low block with senior forward Skylar Harden and steady contribution from the backcourt of Ashanti Brown and Chakoriea Holmes.
“Our guards were consistent all night, but we are a team that plays best from the inside out,” said St. Joe head coach Suzzette Suggs. “Basketball is a multi faceted game and you must be able to play different styles.”
Brown connected on a three point field goal as time expired in the third quarter to give the Lady Irish its biggest lead of the evening at 43-30.
“In this game, you have to be mentally tough because of the ups and downs throughout the game,” Suggs said. “You can expect a tough minded team that plays well though adversity to take the court every night this season.”
Brown sinked a pair of free throws to tie the game at 15 at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter.
The score remained deadlocked for the next three minutes, but the Fighting Irish started to gain a clear advantage on the boards and by chasing down loose balls. Tykira Rancifer commanded the paint rising above the defenders to snag critical rebounds.
Alyssa Simpson corralled an offensive rebound and got fouled on the shot attempt. She went to the line and converted one of two free throws to give St. Joe a 16-15 at the 4:38 mark of the second quarter.
From there St. Joe went on a 7-0 run sparked by the hustle and fast break scoring of Holmes. Not to be outdone, Holmes teammate Brown ended the half scoring six straight points to push the home team to a 27-17 at the halftime lead.
Brown led all scores with 23 points. Holmes added 12. Kydyl Rice led the Lady Flashes with 14.
