IRISH FALL IN D4 REGIONAL FINAL, CLOSE SEASON AT 15-4
When you get to the regional round you have to bring your best game.
Have to.
If you don’t you don’t advance, it’s that simple.
On Wednesday night from its home gymnasium, the Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy girls basketball team didn’t bring its best game and as a result fell to Saginaw Nouvel 53-26 in a Division 4 regional final.
The Irish struggled from the floor in the opening half before Nouvel broke it open in the opening minutes of the third quarter via its full-court defensive pressure.
SHA closes the season out at 15-4 while second-ranked Nouvel improves to 18-1. The Panthers advance to Monday’s D4 quarterfinal in Lake City where it will face Bellaire (16-3) at 7 p.m.
“That’s a good team,” said Irish coach Damon Brown following Wednesday’s game. “We played hard and battled hard. It was one of those nights where shots just weren’t falling, we had several that were down and popped back out and several missed layups.”
The Irish struggled immensely in the first quarter and trailed 10-3 at the end of one. From there Nouvel pushed the lead to 13 at 23-10 at the half and sealed it with a 17-4 run in the third.
For the Irish, it was a tough night overall in that they lost and in that it was the final game for seniors Aysia Smith, Allison Hauck and Brooklyn Chomchai.
“Our seniors have stepped up and taken ownership,” said Brown of his senior class. “To win a district and get into the regional championship, I couldn’t be prouder.”
All things considered, the Irish did have a great season. Moreover, the future is also bright as a good nucleus of players will return in 2021-22.
“We’ll get better and we’ll be back,” Brown added. “We’ll have an opportunity to do something really good next year.”
Delaney Scully led the Irish with eight points while Laura Goenner, Allison Hauck and Kelsey Mcdonald had four points apiece.
Madison Looby led Nouvel with 13 while Grace Buckingham had 11.