In a matchup of WCAL heavyweights, Heleyna Hill scored on a drive and made two clinching free throws as Mitty defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral 61-58 Tuesday night.
The Monarchs (14-3, 5-1) had several mini-runs and held the Fightin’ Irish at arm’s length most of the game. But Kayla Coloyan sparked a furious comeback by the Irish in the fourth quarter. She accounted for 15 straight Sacred Heart Cathedral points, scored 26 in the game and 21 in the second half overall. Hill finished with 19 points, all but five of them in the second half. During parts of the fourth, the girls traded baskets in a mad rush to the end buzzer. Coloyan was 8-of-14 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the line; Hill finished 6-of-10 on field goals and 7-of-9 on free throws. Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Iimar’i Thomas tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, and Mitty’s Daniella Guglielmo and Madeline Holland added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Holland had three of her team’s eight blocked shots.
In the end, it was Hill who was the difference maker, cutting through the lane and kissing it off the glass to give the Monarchs a 59-58 lead with 36.8 seconds remaining. Hill’s basket followed back-to-back buckets by Thomas, one of them coming off a break caused by a Coloyan steal. The Fightin’ Irish called a timeout—their last—and on the ensuing play Kaimani Perez extended through the key for a long layup which missed. Thomas grabbed the rebound, but Mitty forced a turnover when A’shanti Coleman had the ball on the baseline. Hill received a baseball pass down court and was fouled hard by Gabrielle Vigil near the hoop with 3.2 seconds left. The referees ruled it an intentional foul, which put Hill on the line all alone for two. She converted both, and on the inbounds pass by Mitty, the Fightin’ Irish elected not to foul.
“Heleyna was more of a defensive player for us last year than this year, and she’s worked on her game which is noticeable,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips commented. “And she has incredible work ethic and a knack for being able to attack the rim. She’s very cagey and elusive.”
“I was just really excited to come out and compete against a really good team,” said Hill, who added that the difference was “getting on stops on defense.”
Sacred Heart Cathedral jumped out to an early lead but the Monarchs closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 13-10. In the second quarter, they had an 8-0 run that put them ahead 23-12, but the Fightin’ Irish responded with a 9-0 run of their own to finish the first half. In the third, Mitty, expanded the advantage to 44-37. But Coloyan led Sacred Heart Cathedral back to a 49-49 tie. Another Monarch mini-run would afford them the last lead of any comfort, at 55-49.
“Our coaches kept telling us we need to crash the boards, we need to get offensive rebounds, we need to work together and talk to each other,” said Coloyan.
Added Phillips, “Credit Sacred Heart Cathedral for a great game, and we were fortunate to be able to win. I think we did a good job controlling the boards and slowing them down with our transition defense.”
Notes: Jahnay Anderson, Mitty’s senior guard and a centerpiece on the team, suffered a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return. Player stats in this article are not official.
