Second-seeded McAuley Catholic girls basketball built a double-digit lead by halftime and pulled away down the stretch in the fourth quarter to earn a 57-39 win over seventh-seeded Everton in the Class 1 District 5 tournament on Saturday hosted by Thomas Jefferson.
The Warriors (17-10), who were without starting forward Lily Black because of illness, ended the first quarter on a surge and opened the second period in similar fashion to gain a 13-point lead with four minutes left in the first half. McAuley flirted with pushing the lead to 20 or more several times in the second half before Everton (3-18) made a run early in the fourth period to cut the lead to 11. Facing their first real adversity in the game, the Warriors responded with a 10-0 run to put the finishing touches on the district-opening win.
“The first thing I said to them after the game was that it wasn’t pretty, but at this point in the season, it’s survive and advance time,” McAuley coach Mike Howard said. “I’ll take an ugly win any day of the week. We were down Lily in this game and that was a huge loss because she does great defensively down low and she does a great job of getting our guards open. Other girls stepped in and got some minutes and played pretty well. … Overall, I am proud of their effort and I am just glad to be moving on.”
GAME ACTION
After playing to a 4-4 tie in the early going, McAuley took the first momentum swing after closing the first period on a 9-2 run highlighted by buckets from Kennedy DeRuy, Avery Eminger and Kloee Williamson to take a 13-6 advantage into the second period.
The Warriors opened the second period as hot as they closed the first, using an 8-2 run over the first four minutes to push the lead to double digits, 21-8. Eminger had an offensive rebound for a putback score, while DeRuy knocked down back to back 3-pointers to close the run.
“It’s very important for our confidence, especially down a starter, to close out quarters and open the next one well. … They started out in a man (defense) against us and I thought we could take advantage of that with some of our athleticism. When they switched to a zone, we just tried to find the open spots and attack. As long as we didn’t get in a hurry, we were successful.”
McAuley took a 30-14 lead into the intermission and extended the advantage to 39-24 after a back-and-forth third period.
Everton made a run at the lead early in the fourth quarter, using a 9-2 run to trim the deficit to 11, 41-30, with less than six minutes to play in the game.
The Warriors answered the adversity with a scoring surge of their own, putting 10 unanswered points on the scoreboard to push the lead to more than 20 points for the first time, 53-32, with 2:35 left. DeRuy started the run with a three-point play after drawing contact on a score on the break. Eminger grabbed an offensive rebound for a bucket before DeRuy scored on a back cut. DeRuy closed the run with a floater to push the lead to 53-32 with 2:35 left in regulation.
“I think they knew this was do-or-die time,” Howard said of his team’s play down the stretch. “They had to do something to stop that run because they didn’t want to allow (Everton) to hang around until the end because if they are close late, all the pressure is on us. … I am proud of them for not falling to the adversity they faced there. A lot of these girls have played in big games the last couple of years and they are kind of used to that pressure. I thought they responded beautifully to it.”
SCORING LEADERS
DeRuy led McAuley with a game-high 26 points, including three 3-pointers. She had 14 points in the second half. Eminger finished with 22 points, 13 coming in the first half. Williamson finished with five points.
Jazzmenn Luney closed the game with 20 points, while Erza Wood had 11 for Everton. Kenzie Sartin finished with six points in the loss.
UP NEXT
McAuley takes on (3) Bronaugh (15-9) in the district semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
