Dec 20, 2002 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Geibel Catholic couldn’t buy a basket and Carmichaels made just enough to defeat the Lady Gators, 47-42, in Section 2-A girls basketball action Thursday night. The win improves the Lady Mikes to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in section games, while Geibel Catholic fell to 4-2 and 2-2, as the section heads into its holiday break. Both teams will play in Christmas Tournaments, with section play set to resume Jan. 2.

Carmichaels coach Jim Lane said the important win was a matter of “maintaining our composure. As physical as this game was, I was proud of my girls.”

It may prove to be a very costly loss for the Lady Gators, who played the second half without their leading scorer, Meghan Barry. She suffered a knee injury late in the second quarter and did not return. She had scored seven points prior to the injury.

“That hurt us,” Geibel Catholic coach George Bortz said. “It has to hurt when you lose your leading scorer. We’ll have to see what they say about her knee, but they didn’t think it was wise for her to return tonight. We’ll have to wait and see what the medical people have to say.”

Carmichaels took control of the game early by scoring the game’s first seven points and the Lady Mikes ran their lead to 11-2 before Geibel Catholic started to inch its way back into it. The Lady Gators closed to within 16-10 at the end of the first quarter and narrowed Carmichaels’ lead to 23-20 at the half.

The Lady Gators forged a tie at 29-29 on an Abbie Renze free throw with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter, but Lane called time out there to settle his team. Geibel Catholic had closed the gap on the strength of two Emily Pennington three-pointers.

“I called it just to calm them down,” Lane said. “Geibel likes to play pressure basketball and we were starting to play their game. I just wanted them to realize that we had to stay with what works for us.”

What works for the Lady Mikes is a half-court game, where they can make the most of their inside presence.

“Our major advantages are size and experience,” Lane said. “We’re a half-court basketball team and we try to make the most out of every possession.”

They certainly made the most of their next three possessions by scoring the last three baskets of the third quarter to take a 35-29 lead into the final eight minutes.

After a Geibel Catholic basket, the Lady Mikes scored the next six points to take a 41-31 lead and coasted to the victory.

“We matched their intensity, we just fell a little bit short on the offensive end,” Bortz said. “I’m proud of the way we played, though.”

Bortz believes the Lady Mikes are among the better teams in the section and should challenge for the section title.

“We’ve never won a section title,” Lane said, “but these girls have been playing together since seventh grade. We won a lot of games last year, but this is a tough section and it’s awfully early. There’s still a long way to go before we start thinking about section titles.”

Chrissy Antonelli led Carmichaels with 15 points, while Pennington paced Geibel Catholic with 12.