Big players make big plays in big games. Yes, it's a somewhat tired cliché but it also describes how the Our Lady of Good Counsel High School's girls basketball team held off rival Academy of the Holy Cross, 51-47, Tuesday night.
Locked in a defensive struggle with the Tartans -- an almost automatic occurrence when these teams meet -- the Falcons trio of Amanda Fioravanti, Lindsey Spann and Faith Randolph scored six straight points in the final 2 minutes and 8 seconds of the game to hold off the Tartans.
"It was a great game," said Fioravanti, whose squad improved to 15-3 overall and 8-0 in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, good enough for first place. "We had a lot of intensity; they had a lot of intensity. We just pushed it, rebounded it and wanted to score."
Fioravanti provided the first two of those six points on a post move and layup against the center Rhamat Alhassan (18 points) for a 47-43 lead. Fioravanti then forced Alhassan into a tough shot with some body contact just inside the free throw line.
The ball was rebounded by Good Counsel and Spann kicked it ahead to Randolph, who was fouled on a breakaway layup. She made both free throws for a 49-44 advantage with 30.3 seconds remaining in the game.
"Against a Holy Cross, it's always going to be tough," Randolph said. "We kind of locked down on defense and got some offensive touches and hit some shots. It's great [to be] in first place in the WCAC. We just have to keep working hard going toward the playoffs."
After Jazmine Missouri banked in a long-range 3-pointer for the Tartans to trim the lead to 49-47 with 4.2 seconds left, Spann received the inbounds pass, was fouled and sank both free throws to push her team's advantage to four points. Randolph then stole the inbounds pass to seal the win.
"I knew which people to get the ball to and Amanda and Faith came through in the long run," Spann said. "This is a big win. We live for games like this. We all worked hard and came together."
Good Counsel needed all of their strong play and more to slip past the Tartans (11-6, 4-4 WCAC), who almost perfectly executed Coach Eddie Simpson's game plan, which he admitted was developed over lunch Tuesday. Holy Cross slowed the pace considerably on offense with the point guard holding the ball well beyond halfcourt before Simpson signaled in a play.
On defense, Holy Cross kept switching its zone defensive looks in an effort to make Good Counsel work several seconds off the shot clock before firing up a shot. Those defenses, after the first quarter, somewhat slowed the penetration of Spann and Randolph, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half to help forge a 25-25 tie.
"I thought some questionable calls down the end -- if Amanda [Fioravanti] picks up that fifth foul [when bodying Alhassan on the late jumper], we're on the line and at that point it's a two-point game; we've got a chance to tie it up," said Simpson, whose squad was without starter Taylor McCarley, who was sidelined by illness. "I thought our kids played hard. They didn't quit. I just thought our kids just kept fighting."
The Tartans certainly did that, forging ties after the first and second quarters before taking a 38-35 lead into the final eight minutes of the game following back-to-back 3-pointers by Jillian Dunston and Pandora Wilson from the right and left baseline, respectively.
The game went back and forth until a 3-pointer from the top of the arc by Jordan Light gave the Falcons a 45-42 lead with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Good Counsel 51, Holy Cross 47
Holy Cross (11-6, 8-0) 17 8 13 9 -- 47
Good Counsel (15-3, 4-4) 17 8 10 16 -- 51
Holy Cross -- Rhamat Alhassan 18, Janee Brown 6, LeRae Ettienne 2, Alex Lustig 5, Pandora Wilson 9, Jillian Dunston 3, Jazmine Missouri 4.
Good Counsel -- Lindsey Spann 10, Faith Randolph 16, Sara Woods 8, Stacey Koutris 5, Amanda Fioravanti 9, Jordan Light 3.
By: James Peters, The Gazette
