Mount rolls past Crusaders
For Montgomery Media
Defense is a primary focus for this year’s Mount St. Joseph Academy basketball team. On Friday night, the Magic used a combination of impressive defense and exceptional quickness to post a 56-35 win over Lansdale Catholic in the opening round of the Third Annual George W. Snear Girls’ Holiday Basketball Tournament at the Fellowship House.
The Crusaders managed to stay close to the Mount in the first quarter and early stages of the second quarter. They trailed the Magic 12-10 at the end of the first period and had the game at a 14-14 deadlock two minutes into the second frame.
Then, a pair of free throws by Alex Louin and a pair of baskets by Carly Monzo provided the Mount with the kick start it needed to open up a gap. At halftime, the Mount was ahead 28-18. The Magic continued to apply pressure in the third and held a more-thancomfortable 45-28 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“In the second quarter, we had a momentum shift,” said MSJ’s talented senior forward Meg Geatens. “We buckled down on defense and our shots started falling. We got some good shots in the paint and that helped a lot.”
The shots started falling for the Mount, but the Crusaders were never able to find their shooting touch. They finished the game with 11 field goals – just three more than scored by the Mount’s Carly Monzo, who was the game’s leading scorer with 16.
“We just needed to do a better job on offense,” said Lansdale Catholic coach Heather Weindorfer, whose team is now 2-4. “They’re a very good defensive team and this small court helped them.
“It’s been hard for us this year so far because we have only one senior starter. The rest are sophomores and freshmen. Shalina Miller, who is a sophomore, was a plus. She played great tonight. We came out ready to play and did a good job against their pressure early.”
But, to defeat this year’s Mount squad, a team has to be able to cope against its defense for the entire game.
“I think our pressure bothered them a little,” said MSJ coach John Miller, whose team is now 7-1 and on a sixgame winning streak. “In the second quarter, we got some easy baskets off turnovers
and, all of a sudden, a singledigit lead goes to a doubledigit lead.
“We win most of our games because of our defense. Our goal is to hold opponents below 40 so we reached our goal tonight.