Souderton edges GMA in 2OT
For Montgomery Media
Allison Gallagher wasn’t named the Most Valuable Player of the Wissahickon Holiday Basketball Classic.
But she was the most valuable player in the championship game, sinking a foul shot with 10.8 seconds left in the second overtime to lead Souderton to a 43-42 win over Gwynedd Mercy Academy. The win evens the Indians’ record at 3-3 and drops the Monarchs to 4-7.
However, it wasn’t just the free throw that she made to win the game which made her valuable to Souderton. It was the four 3-pointers including one with 15.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime and the game-high 17 points she scored.
Strangely enough, Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said that Gallagher hasn’t been shooting as well as she would like.
“She has really not been shooting well all season,” Carroll said. “At least not consistently. Our foul shooting was pretty horrible, but she made the one that mattered.”
Gallagher felt that she might have figured things out in the shoot-around before the game.
“I was just getting myself set more,” she said. “(I was) focusing a little bit better and just not letting them get in my head.”
Whatever the reason, it must have helped because her offense kept the Indians in the game when their offense was going south.
Sarah Derstein’s rebound basket and subsequent free throw were the only points Souderton scored in the first period. They trailed 7-3 after the first eight minutes.
Gallagher got going in the second quarter. She hit a layup, a 3-pointer and finally a basket with 1.5 seconds left in the half to cut the Monarchs’ lead to 19-14.
The Indians got back into the game in the third quarter, outscoring Gwynedd Mercy 15-10. Those 15 points included two more 3-pointers for Gallagher.
It looked like Souderton was going to sew up the win in the final stanza. The Indians scored the first six points of the period to take a 35-29 lead and maintained that margin after trading buckets with the Monarchs with five minutes remaining in regulation.
But Gwynedd Mercy ran off two three-point plays, one with 3:36 left and one with 51.2 seconds remaining to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Bianca Picard put Souderton up with a driving layup in the first overtime, but Christa Giordano got the Monarchs tied again with a pair of foul shots.
Then, with 15.9 seconds left, Gallagher hit her fourth trey for a 42-39 lead. However, Gwynedd Mercy wasn’t done as Jenna Raschiatore fired in a three from the right side with 6.7 seconds left to tie it again.
Finally, with time running out in the second OT, Gallagher hit one of two free throws to seal the deal. The Monarchs couldn’t get a shot to drop.
For Carroll, it was a combination of her team’s offensive struggle early in the game and the sticky defense of Gwynedd Mercy.
“We really only struggled offensively for the entire first quarter and the first few minutes of the second quarter,” Carroll said. “I think in the first quarter alone we left 10 points on the rim, layups that we just weren’t finishing. That alone makes it a much different game.
“Gwynedd Mercy,
they make you earn everything on both ends of the court. While there were a ton of things that we did poorly, they deserve credit because they made us work and we may have had some more talented players on our side, but they (Gwynedd Mercy) didn’t play that way. They played really hard.”
GMA coach Tim Kowalski was happy with his team even in defeat.
“I’m really proud,” he said. “I thought our effort was really good.
“Maybe not the best offensive game for some of our top players. I give a lot of credit to Souderton.
“I thought we did a great job on Picard, who’s a fantastic player. She had nine points, but she can just as easily score 20 so I thought we did a great job there.”
The win was again a big one for Souderton.
“It’s a big turning point for us,” Gallagher said. “Having been 1-3 and winning these two and getting back to .500. It will be good to start the year with a not-losing record.”
Gallagher was the lone Indian in double figures. Giordano topped Gwynedd with 13 and Raschiatore added 12.
Gallagher was named to the All-Tournament team along with Picard, who was also named MVP of the tourney. Raschiatore and Giordano joined them on the all-star squad.
Both coaches realized how big the game was.
“They scored one point in the second overtime,” Kowalski said. “We scored none. It was a last-man-standing kind of thing. What are you going to do?”
Carroll expressed her feeling emphatically.
“We will absolutely take it,” she said.