Girls basketball: St. Bede holds off L-P to end rivalry drought

LA SALLE – It was about as physical of a rivalry game as they get between the St. Bede and La Salle-Peru girls basketball teams Saturday.

In the end, the visiting Bruins came away with a 45-40 victory at L-P’s A.J. Sellett Gymnasium.

It is believed to be the Bruins first victory over the Cavaliers since Jan. 3, 2012.

“It’s been a while since we had a victory in the series, and we had to work for it today,” St. Bede coach Stephanie Mickley said. “The fouls were really piling up in the second half, and we struggled at the line, but we hit them at the end when we needed them.”

With the Bruins leading 37-32 to start the fourth quarter, the Cavs cut the deficit to 37-34 as Elli Sines made a sharp cut to the basket for a layup.

“It’s been a while since we had a victory in the series and we had to work for it today.”

—  Stephanie Mickley, St. Bede coach

After an Ali Bosnich jumper pushed the lead back to five points, L-P responded as Jasmine Garman hit a pull-up jumper, and Kaylee Abens got an offensive rebound for the Cavs off her own miss for a bucket.

Seconds later, Garman hit a 15-foot shot that cut the St. Bede lead to 41-40.

Both teams struggled from the line as Ali Bosnich and Ashlyn Ehm each hit 1 of 2 to give the Bruins a 43-40 lead.

“We are guard-heavy team,” L-P coach Adam Spencer said. “But we did a nice job outrebounding them today and limiting what their big girls down low did.”

Lily Bosnich, who led all players with 10 boards, missed her two shots at the charity stripe, but the ensuing rebound went off L-P and gave the ball back to the Bruins.

St. Bede turned the ball over, however, giving the Cavs a chance to tie the game, but a 3-pointer from Garman was off the mark.

After two jump balls gave the ball back to St. Bede, Ali Bosnich stepped to the line and hit both of her foul shots as the Bruins held on.

“We preach to the girls all the time about keeping their composure,” Mickley said. “It’s physical, and both teams are battling, and you want to keep your cool and just play, and I thought we did a good job of that. We hit just enough free throws at the end to get the win.”

At the start of the game, it was back and forth as St. Bede led 6-4 early, but the Cavs went on a 7-0 run as Abens hit a 3-pointer, then converted a layup to give L-P an 11-6 advantage.

Lily Bosnich then drained a much needed 3-pointer for the Bruins before Addison Urbanski hit a step back jumper that gave L-P a 13-11 lead after the first eight minutes.

Abens continued her strong play with a solid drive to the basket to start the second quarter, but both teams went cold from the floor with fouls piling up.

Lili McClain hit 1 of 2 from the line at 4:45 left in the half for the Bruins’ first points of the quarter. But the Bruins went on an 11-0 run with Ali Bosnich hitting 3 of 4 from the line and then Ehm hitting a jumper for a 19-15 lead.

Lili McClain hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 22-15 before Kelsey Frederick picked up back-to-back offensive boards with one of them leading to a 3-point play, giving the lead back to the Cavs at 23-22.

Before the half was over, Ella Hermes hit a 3-pointer to regain the lead for the Bruins at 25-23 heading into the break.

“We had 18 first-half fouls, and they hit a pair of bank shot 3-pointes,” Spencer said. “So to only be down two, we were pretty happy to be in that position.”

L-P started the second half off strong with Urbanski converting a fast-break layup. After Addie Duttlinger split her two foul shots, Bailey Pode picked up an offensive board and the layup to give the Cavs a 29-25 edge.

The Bruins did not score for over four minutes to start the half and then Quinn McClain hit a bank shot 3-pointer to trim the Cavs’ lead to 29-28.

Lili McClain hit both her shots at the line and then Ali Bosnich powered her way to the hoop for a bucket that capped a 7-0 Bruins run that gave the lead back to St. Bede at 32-30.

The Cavs tied the game with another offensive rebound from Garman, but Ali Bosnich drained a 3-pointer at the top of the arc, and Ehm hit a pair of free throws to close out the third on a 5-0 run for the Bruins to take a 37-32 lead into the fourth.

For the Bruins, Ali Bonich led with 17 points, Lili McClain scored 10 to go with eight rebounds, and Lily Bosnich led with 10 boards. L-P was led by Abens with 12 points and Duttlinger with seven.