Albert Gallatin secures Section 2-AAAA championship
YORK RUN – It took everything they had, but the Albert Gallatin Lady Colonials wake up this morning sporting a new title: Section 2-AAAA Girls Basketball Champions. Albert Gallatin held off a pesky Trinity team for a 50-47 win that locked up first place for the 18-3 Lady Colonials with a 12-0 section record. Trinity fell to 5-14 overall and 2-9 in the section, but you’d never know they had a losing record if you watched this game.
After AG sprinted out to leads of 8-3 and 10-4, the Lady Hillers rode a 10-0 run to claim an 18-14 lead 2:20 before halftime. Albert Gallatin managed to reclaim the lead, but didn’t lead by more than two points until Loui Hall made six straight free throws to cap an 8-0 AG run that gave the Lady Colonials a 45-38 lead with 2:34 remaining in the game.
But Trinity wasn’t done yet. The Lady Hillers scored the next six points to get within a point, 45-44 with 1:41 still on the clock. Trinity got the ball back, but Hall sealed AG’s win with an amazing steal with 53 seconds remaining. Hall came out to double-team the ball, then dropped back just as Trinity tried to lob it over her head. She was fouled just after getting the steal, made those two and finished AG’s scoring by nailing four more free ones.
“It’s funny how all great players seem to make plays like that,” Albert Gallatin coach Shea Fleanor said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s on offense or on defense, the cream always rises to the top. Great players do that, but Loui’s done a great job on defense all year.”
“She’s the best kid in our league,” Trinity coach Jim Webb said. “She is by far the toughest to defend. We wanted to stay in front of her, to make her work hard for everything she got and to keep her off the glass for her second shot.”
The Lady Hillers limited Hall to 16 points through three quarters, but Hall wanted the ball – and got it – in the fourth quarter, where she doubled her output to finish with 32 points to go with 17 rebounds.
Hall got her last couple of rebounds on the offensive end, swiping a few missed foul shots and getting back to the line herself. Hall made 17-of-21 free throws.
“That hurt us more than anything when we couldn’t get a rebound off their missed foul shots at the end,” Webb said.
Speaking of rebounds, Albert Gallatin was on the rebound Thursday night. The Lady Colonials lost an exhibition game at top-ranked Oakland Catholic Wednesday night.
“It concerned me because I didn’t know how we would handle a loss,” Fleanor said. “I don’t think there’s ever a good loss, but good things can come from a loss and I was thinking maybe it would humble us, bring us back down to Earth and realize that we have to battle for everything we want.
“Plus, the girls all knew that a win over Trinity would make us section champs. Maybe we were looking ahead or feeling the pressure of clinching. I think that showed.”
Another factor could be the team on the other side. Webb’s team is very young, with Megan Chicone being the only senior. The Lady Hillers have won only five games overall and only two in the section, but they are playing their best basketball at the end of the season.
“They are going to be a heck of a team over the next couple of years,” Fleanor said of Trinity. “They play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride. It would be easy for them to start packing it in once some adversity hits, but they keep battling. That is a testament to their kids and to their coaching staff.”
Chicone led Trinity with 13 points, while Chalice Popeck returned from the flu to score 12. Only three players scored for Albert Gallatin, with Ashley Davis and Rachel Karpency each adding nine to Hall’s 32.