Coming into the final quarter with a lead of 43-36, the Sacred Heart Cathedral Fightin’ Irish continued to fight through until the end to beat out the Terra Nova Tigers, 61-56, and win the CCS Division III Championships at Santa Clara University Saturday night.
In the final 42 seconds of the final quarter, Terra Nova’s star point guard Ivonne Cook Taylor (22 points) went 2-for-2 from the line, opening the door for Terra Nova to possibly catch up. However, Sacred Heart Cathedral held onto their lead, 61-54, with great defensive plays in the last 30 seconds.
“Our main focus was to pressure, play strong defense, and push forward,” said Sacred Heart Cathedral Head Coach Mike Carey. “We tried to not let up and execute what we came here to do.”
With several breakaways from both teams, Sacred Heart Cathdral captain and point guard GeAnna Summers-Luaulu was on fire, passing the ball back and forth to Briannah Smith. This led to a 3-pointer at 3:15 by Summers-Luaulu, which brought the score to 54-43, Sacred Heart in the lead.
In the first half, both teams battled it out with Sacred Heart Cathedral stealing an early lead, 16-11, with Luaulu’s two 2-point baskets at 7:26 and 6:37 in the first quarter. Irish captain Jerrieza Enriquez made a beautiful 3-pointer at 3:22.
“My girls definitely had butterflies in their stomachs for the first half and made little mistakes,” said Terra Nova head coach Kareem Summerville.
The third quarter was intense as SHC senior Brianna Friedrich scored a 3-pointer at 5:08 and responded to Luaulu’s 2-point basket at 4:59 with her own basket at 4:50, which increased the lead to 43-36.
“I think that my girls did very well, especially since it was their first CCS tournament and Sacred Heart Cathedral has had experience,” said Summerville.
For his part, Carey was also very happy with his team.
“They followed through with our game plan that we discussed last Thursday and Friday," said Carey. "I’m very proud of them.”
