By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Using defensive pressure to disrupt an opponent’s ball movement and offensive flow is something the Notre Dame and Holy Cross girls basketball teams worked on in practice before their game on Wednesday in Latonia.
Both teams applied the pressure so well that there was a combined total of 35 turnovers, but Notre Dame was able to get the ball to 6-foot-4 senior center Sophia Gibson under the basket enough times to come away with a 55-42 victory.
Gibson made 11 of 14 field goal attempts and netted a game-high 25 points for the Pandas, who had an 0-2 record against Holy Cross last season.
In the fourth quarter, the Yale University recruit scored 11 of her team’s 18 points to hold off a rally by the Indians.
“My teammates are great at getting it in to me,” said Gibson, who missed the previous five games due to a concussion. “They did great breaking the press and I was there for the dump downs. They did the hard work and I just finished it up.”
In this week’s statewide media poll, Holy Cross (20-4) was No. 12 and Notre Dame (16-4) was No. 15. The Pandas clinched the top seed in the 35th District playoffs with the upset victory that came on the heels of a 52-49 loss to No. 3 Cooper last Saturday.
“We had a tough game against Cooper so we needed this,” Gibson said. “We needed a big bang game and that’s what we got.”
Holy Cross took a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes with seven points coming after turnovers by Notre Dame. The score was tied, 10-10, at the end of the first quarter before the Pandas put together a 16-3 run to open up a 26-13 halftime lead.
In the first half, Gibson scored 10 points and her senior teammate Maya Lawrie had six points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Each time Holy Cross scored, Lawrie inbounded the ball against the Indians’ full-court defensive pressure and she had only one turnover in the first two quarters.
“It’s a tough job to do against Holy Cross, for sure” Lawrie said. “I do my best to see who’s open, but my teammates do a really good job of getting open and that makes it easy for me.”
Notre Dame led by 15 points twice in the third quarter and took its biggest lead, 43-26, on a free throw by Lawrie with 6:42 left in the fourth quarter. That’s when Holy Cross launched a rally that trimmed the margin to 50-42 with 2:09 remaining, but the Indians did not score on their final five possessions.
“Every time it looked like we were starting to make a run (Notre Dame) would make a play or maybe a ball didn’t go in for us or who knows what,” said Holy Cross coach Ted Arlinghaus. “They just made more plays than us.”
Holy Cross ended up shooting 25.5 percent (13 of 51) from the field and made 13 of 22 free throws on its home court.
The Indians’ top scorer was senior Aumani Nelson. She got nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, but her final field goal was waved off due to a charging foul.
Notre Dame converted 42.6 percent (23 of 54) of its field goal attempts and went 8-of-21 at the line. The Pandas also had a 30-20 rebounding advantage with junior Addie Lawrie getting eight. Her older sister, Maya, finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, three steals and had one her team’s seven blocked shots.
“Holy Cross is a big rival with us,” Maya said. “They’re a really great team, so it means a lot for us to come out here in their gym and get a win. I’m really proud of my team and my teammates.”
NOTRE DAME 10 16 11 18 — 55
HOLY CROSS 10 3 11 18 — 42
NOTRE DAME (16-4): Holtzapfel 2 1 6, A. Lawrie 2 0 4, M. Lawrie 4 2 10, Burden 1 2 4, Eberhard 3 0 6, Gibson 11 3 25. Totals: 23 8 55.
HOLY CROSS (20-4): Johnson 2 4 8, Arlinghaus 1 0 3, Nelson 6 6 20, Carter 0 3 3, Williams 4 0 8. Totals: 13 13 42.
Three-point goals: ND — Holtzapfel. HC — Nelson 2, Arlinghaus.
Great article. It was a very hard fought game ! These two teams are always so competitive and fun to watch.
Thanks for covering girls basketball and keeping these girls in the limelight! It makes it more fun for everyone!
This will be a fun rematch in a few weeks!