By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
This is George Stoll’s first season as Notre Dame Academy girls basketball coach. He had never been involved with the team’s long-standing rivalry with Holy Cross until Wednesday when the Pandas pulled out a 43-41 win in overtime on their home court.
“Exhilarating is probably the right word,” Stoll said of the victory. “Both teams competed the entire time. A lot of mistakes were made, but I’m happy with our girls. We kept on moving on to the next play. I’m very happy with how we did that.”
Notre Dame committed 23 turnovers during the 35th District seeding game, but they offset that with a 27-13 advantage on the defensive boards. The Pandas also blocked five shots while limiting Holy Cross to 30.2 percent (16 of 53) shooting from the field.
The visiting Indians had a tough night at the free throw line as well, hitting just 6 of 15 attempts.
With 0:03 seconds left in the overtime period, Holy Cross sophomore guard Jai Johnson was fouled while attempting a 3-point shot. She had an opportunity to tie the score, but she missed all three foul shots.
“They played their hearts out. We just didn’t shoot the ball particularly well,” said Holy Cross coach Ted Arlinghaus. “And that’s tough (against Notre Dame). They’ve got a ton of length, multiple 6-footers and other kids that are long.”
Notre Dame’s tallest player is 6-foot-2 junior center Sarah Young. She played remarkably well in her first varsity game against Holy Cross, posting a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds while also blocking four shots.
Young scored eight points in the first half, including a spinning shot on the low post that gave the Pandas a 24-23 lead at the break. She was guarded much closer after that and still managed to score nine of her team’s 19 points during the second half and overtime.
“I just try to play my game,” she said. “Even if teams are trying to be physical, I’m just fighting back and finding my teammates when they’re trying to push me. We weren’t hitting threes today, but we were able to find ways to score.”
In the overtime period, Notre Dame got a 3-point goal from senior Emma Holtzapfel, a low-post basket from Young and two free throws by Holtzapfel to take a 43-39 lead. With five seconds remaining, Holy Cross junior forward D’Myah Williams caught a long up-court pass and scored to make it 43-41.
Notre Dame’s inbounds pass went out of bounds, so Holy Cross got the ball back. That’s when Johnson was fouled attempting a 3-point shot and missed three free throws.
“If the situation rose up again, I’d trust her to knock those shots down,” coach Volpenhein said. “They just didn’t go in today, but it’s a learning experience for us. We don’t have any seniors. We’re babies.”
The leading scorers for the Indians (3-1) were Williams with 13 points and Johnson with 12. Notre Dame senior guard Addie Lawrie scored 10 points off the bench for the Pandas (3-0).
HOLY CROSS 12 11 10 3 5 — 41
NOTRE DAME 10 14 7 5 7 — 43
HOLY CROSS (3-1): Johnson 4 2 12, A. Arlinghaus 3 0 6, P. Arlinghaus 2 1 6, Eberhard 2 0 4, Williams 5 3 13. Totals: 16 6 41.
NOTRE DAME (3-0): McGraw 1 0 2, Young 8 1 17, Holtzapfel 3 2 9, Lawrie 4 1 10, Humphrey 2 0 5. Totals: 18 4 43.
3-point goals — HC — Johnson 2, P. Arlinghaus. ND — Holtzapfel, Lawrie, Humphrey.