Lady Mikes edge Geibel, extend win streak to 17
CARMICHAELS – After Carmichaels threaded a skein of passes through its defense, the Geibel Catholic girls basketball team untangled itself in the frantic moments of the fourth quarter only to come up short. The Lady Mikes staved off Geibel’s late run to tighten their grip on first place in Section 2-A with Monday’s 54-47 win.
“We matched their intensity (in the fourth quarter),” said Geibel Catholic head coach George Bortz. “We got it down to four, but time just ran out on us.”
Meghan Barry fed Julie Wisilosky a pass with just over two minutes remaining, as she scored to pull the Lady Gators within four, 51-47. But two missed three-pointers by Emily Pennington and Abbie Renze, and two heads-up defensive plays by Carmichaels’ Autumn Willis batting the ball off opponents to give the Lady Mikes possession, held off the Lady Gators.
“We didn’t play our best, but we didn’t give up,” Bortz said. “I thought we played hard. It’s hard to come back on a team that is (17-1).”
Carmichaels (11-0, 17-1) did not score a field goal the entire fourth quarter, but the Lady Mikes sank seven free throws, four by Autumn Willis, to secure the win. When Geibel Catholic began to full-court press with 5:50 remaining, Carmichaels head coach Jim Lane kept telling his players to weather the storm.
“There’s always times in a game when the other team gets on a roll,” Lane said. “We had to weather the storm, because they were making the most of their possessions.”
Geibel Catholic (8-3, 11-8) never led during the game and only tied the game at seven in the first quarter. However, the Lady Gators had plenty of chances to keep pace with the Lady Mikes. Down by one point (17-16) to start the second quarter, Geibel missed four shots on its first possession. The Lady Gators’ drought continued as the team failed to record a field goal on its next nine possession until Wisilosky scored with 2:38 left in the half to cut Carmichaels lead to 30-21.
Wisilosky was the only Lady Gator in double figures as she netted 22 points, followed by Pennington and Barry with seven each.
“It seemed like we started out of wack and they just jumped on us,” Bortz said. “In the second quarter the shots were just not falling; we got some decent looks, but that happens.”
Point guard Jessica McMinn worked the Carmichaels’ offense to perfection during the second-quarter run. After scoring to put the Lady Mikes up 28-17, McMinn dished out assists on her team’s next three possessions. Autumn Willis was the benefactor on the latter two – the second a three-pointer to give Carmichaels its biggest lead of the game at 35-21 with under a minute remaining in the first half.
Like Wisilosky, Autumn Willis scored 22 points to lead Carmichaels, and was her team’s lone double-digit scorer. Christina Antonelli, Megan Wood, and Amber Willis followed with eight points apiece.
“I got a veteran squad,” Lane said. “You can see it in how well they work the ball to find the open man. And with (McMinn) everything good comes from penetrating.”
Bortz agreed.
“They were taking it off the dribble and dropping it off for easy lay-ups,” Bortz said. “Once we stopped (the penetration), it was the reason we got back in the game.”
Carmichaels will travel to Avella Thursday in an effort to clinch the section championship.