SAN FRANCISCO – In St. Ignatius’ first real challenge in the notoriously tough WCAL, Addi Walters shone the brightest, scoring 24 points, including 4 threes, and propelling her team to a big 60-53 victory.
After a first half in which St. Ignatius seemed to dominate, SI led the Mitty Monarchs 30-16. But the Wildcats were just getting started.
In the third quarter, Walters hit 3 threes, and the Cats never looked back. Despite a late surge from the Monarchs, SI held on to post the win.
“I think our seniors really showed their experience on the court, especially when the game was tight,” SI coach Mike Mulkerrins said. “I think that was the difference. We were able to make mature plays at the end.”
Walters, who shot a very impressive 70 percent from the field, played a huge role in SI’s second WCAL win.
“I got threes open from open-court situations where they kind of just forgot about me, and they weren’t really in a set play,” Walters said. “I was lucky.”
“Addi (Walters) is a really good shooter,” said Mulkerrins. “She’s one of the best shooters in the league. I’ll take her up against anybody. Hopefully she’s finding her groove at the right time.”
Without starting guard Janessa Manzano, who was out due to a foot injury, the Wildcats had to step up -- and step up they did. Along with Walters' 24 points, Sydney Raggio contributed 10 points, and Joleen Yang and Josie Little each had 8 points. As a team, St. Ignatius shot 47 percent from the field and was able to dominate the glass.
When asked about the hole left by Manzano's absence, Mulkerrins expressed confidence in his group: “It doesn’t make our bench as deep as it normally would be. But we’ve got a good team. Even if I have to go deeper in the bench, I know a lot of the girls could step up.”
Mitty struggled to get things going until the fourth quarter. As a team, the Monarchs shot just 38 percent from the floor. However, Mitty was able to stay within striking distance of SI, led by the 17-point effort from sophomore wing Maddie Holland.
“I think you need to credit SI for playing stellar defense,” Archbishop Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. “I thought we had some wasted possessions offensively. We did get some good looks that we wanted, but they didn’t fall.”
Mitty (9-3, 1-1) will look to bounce back against St. Francis on Tuesday, January 13, with the tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
“Anytime you play a formidable opponent, you’re going to get better,” Phillips said. “I thought we grew today. We’ll be able to watch film and break down areas where we need to improve.”
SI will continue to play without Manzano for about one month, as she suffered a chipped bone in her right foot in the win against Presentation-San Jose on Tuesday night.
St. Ignatius (12-1, 2-0) will face bitter rivals Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday night, January 13, at USF Memorial Gym, in a prelude to the second installment of the annual Bruce-Mahoney Classic boys basketball game. Tip-off for the girl’s rivalry contest is at 6:00 p.m.
“SHC is going to pressure us,” Mulkerrins said. “They’re really athletic, and they have some really good seniors that have been there, done that. We just take one game at a time. We don’t look ahead too far. You know, it’s USF (Memorial Stadium), and the first team to settle down first will be the team that’s probably going to win.”
