Bishop Foley tops Lutheran Northwest, moves to regional final
Madison Heights Bishop Foley junior Melanie Moore felt a little off Monday night — particularly during the first half of her team’s game against Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest.
“My shots in the first half weren’t falling and I realized at that point that I needed to do something else,” she said.
What she did was come up clutch in the final two minutes of the Division 3 regional semifinal game played on her team’s home court. With the game tied, 42-42, Moore battled for an offensive rebound, then kicked it out to teammate Lauren Bartkiewicz. The sophomore knocked down a 3-pointer, giving her team its first lead of the game, one which it would not relinquish in a 52-42 victory over the Crusaders.
“We stressed that at practice yesterday,” Bishop Foley head coach Ray Joseph said. “Lutheran Northwest is tall and we needed to limit them and get to the boards. Yeah, they were getting multiple rebounds, but down the stretch, in that fourth quarter, Melanie and our guards came up big.”
Though Moore did finish with 10 points in the win, she was more than willing to get dirty and feed her teammates.
“Dishing it to my teammates, getting them baskets was more important to me,” she said. “When we work as a team, we’re unstoppable. At the end of the day, the most important thing is having faith in your teammates and that’s what we focus on in practice and if we execute it in the games, the outcome is there.”
Lutheran Northwest head coach Jim Mehlberg saw his team jump out to a 27-21 halftime lead. The Crusaders carried a 36-31 lead into the fourth quarter before succumbing to the Ventures.
“We were in foul trouble in the fourth quarter,” Mehlberg said. “Three starters were playing with four fouls. It really just fell apart for us in the end.”
Mehlberg admitted Moore’s rebound and assist to Bartkiewicz hurt. But the coach felt that another play Moore made — on the Ventures’ next possession — was critical.
“Moore picked up that next (offensive) rebound and got a put-back, all in a three-point game and that put them up five. It was the rebound of the game,” he said.
Bishop Foley outscored Lutheran Northwest, 21-6, in the fourth quarter. Sopho
more guard Alyssa Samartino scored nine of her 12 points in that quarter. She and freshman Ryan Moorer combined to score the first 11 points of the fourth to help the Ventures tie the game up.
“We were really moving the ball and hitting clutch shots,” Joseph said. “Lauren (Bartkiewicz) hit a clutch shot like she did in the Shrine game, our guards, Alyssa Sammartino, took over and Melanie with those clutch rebounds. It was just a great team win.”
Moorer led Bishop Foley (9-5 overall) with 13 points. Bartkiewicz had nine and junior Teresa Weis added seven.
Senior Sabrina Gottschalk finished with a game-high 20 points for the Crusaders (12-2). Thirteen of those points came in the first half, which saw Northwest lead throughout. Fellow senior Jena Maniaci added 10 points. Mehlberg graduates six seniors off this year’s team, including four of which have been starting since they were sophomores.
“I love these seniors,” Mehlberg said. “They’ve started for us the last three years, since they were sophomores. It’s heartbreaking to have it end.”