O’Hara clinches title in nail-biting Catholic League play

Sports Columnist
By John Knebels

For those who needed a nap following this year’s Catholic League girls’ basketball championship at the Palestra, you earned it.

But if it was tiring watching the game unfold like a dark comedy, imagine what it must have been like playing in it.

Such a perception was supported by the post-game look of utter fatigue on the faces of the winners, Cardinal O’Hara, and the team they defeated, Archbishop Carroll. Indeed, the 48-45 O’Hara victory that secured a third Catholic League title in four seasons, and 11th in the last 18, included more twists than a pretzel.

“It was a relief when it was over,” said O’Hara standout Alysha Womack, whose 15 points were a game high. “But it’s not surprising that it was that type of a game.”

As did several of her teammates, Womack admitted that she was quite concerned when the Lions went the entire first quarter without making a single basket. That the Lions were behind by only 9-4 appeared to be a minor miracle.

After finally scoring a bucket 55 seconds into the second quarter, O’Hara (25-2 overall) started resembling the same team that had blitzed through the regular season without a league loss — two of the wins coming at the expense of a very strong Carroll team.

Before long, O’Hara took a 21-18 lead on a three-point play by Womack. With Carroll’s half-court press being exploited by O’Hara’s athleticism, and junior star Stephanie Holzer dominating on offense and defense (14 points, 18 rebounds), the Lions forged a 30-20 lead midway through the third quarter.

Game over, right?

Not quite.

“We knew they weren’t going to go away without a fight,” said O’Hara coach Linus McGinty, whose resume at O’Hara includes eight championships in 14 seasons. “Their team is too good for that.”

Undaunted, the Patriots (19-8) jumped on the back of senior Meg Pearson (14 points, 10 rebounds), outscored the Lions by 8-2 and entered the fourth quarter trailing by only 32-28. Despite the Patriot fans vociferously rooting for their team to maintain the momentum — particularly the six seniors playing their last game in a Carroll uniform — O’Hara regained control early in the fourth and led somewhat comfortably.

But then a twist.

With her team trailing 47-42, and much of the crowd counting down the final seconds, Carroll’s Hollie Mershon drilled a long three-point shot with 5.3 ticks left in regulation to make it 47-45. Desperate to stop the clock, the Patriots fouled the Lions, and the strategy worked on a missed free throw.

But on the rebound, O’Hara’s Natasha Cloud out-hustled everyone to a loose ball and was fouled. Needing two free throws to ice the game with 2.2 seconds remaining, she made, of course, only one.

“It was never easy,” said Womack. “The whole game was like that. It was fitting it came down to a last shot.”

A desperation three-point shot to tie the game wasn’t to be, thanks to an aggressive defensive play by Cloud, and Cardinal O’Hara emerged with a victory that left the packed audience completely spent.

But for Cardinal O’Hara, it was the best kind of ending.

John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.