Girls basketball: Danielle Scully powers Nazareth past Pewaukee

LISLE – Nazareth forward Danielle Scully has spent most of her high school career as a back-to-the-basket post player, teaming with fellow senior Olivia Austin to give the Roadrunners an intimidating presence in the paint.

Not anymore.

“About a month ago, we decided to put the ball in Dani’s hands more facing up,” Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel said. “She’s always been kind of a double power game with Olivia. But she’s such a good ballhandler that we let her go downhill a little bit more and she’s so talented. She’s a matchup problem because big kids are guarding her but she’s handling like a guard, so I think that’s opening us up a lot.”

Scully made Stritzel look like a genius Monday. The Ohio recruit scored eight of her 11 points, including the decisive free throw, in the second half to lift Nazareth to a 44-43 victory over ranked Wisconsin power Pewaukee at the 34th annual Coach Derril Kipp’s Hoopfest at Benet.

The Roadrunners (15-3) have played a brutally tough schedule but have risen to the challenge. They traveled to Tampa, Florida, over the holidays and faced three of the top 10 teams in the nation, beating two of them and losing to the third on a buzzer-beater in overtime.

Pewaukee (14-1) was the Class 3A state runner-up in Wisconsin last season and is ranked No. 1 in Wisconsin and 23rd in the nation this season. The Pirates led 29-22 at halftime and were up 35-31 when Scully scored back-to-back baskets on power moves down the lane, the first with her left hand and the second with her right.

Sophomore Stella Sakalas followed by taking a pass from senior guard Amalia Dray and sinking a 22-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Nazareth a 38-36 lead after three quarters. It was part of a 12-1 run that saw the Roadrunners take a 43-36 advantage.

“Moving me to the 2 guard was a good move for our team because I could distribute for shooters and then make the layups when I’m open,” Scully said.

Scully, who was named Nazareth’s player of the game, found herself open on her team’s final possession.

The Pirates had scored seven straight points and tied the game at 43 on a layup by Kennedy Retherford with 2:15 remaining.

After both teams missed chances to take the lead, the Roadrunners got the ball with 10.3 seconds left. Scully dribbled the length of the floor and drew the fifth foul on Anna Terrian with 4.1 ticks to go.

“I passed the ball in and then I got the ball back and ‘MB’ [point guard Mary Bridget Wilson] just screamed ‘Go!’ ” Scully said. “So I just went, didn’t stop and thankfully it wasn’t a charge. It was a good call.”

Scully made the first free throw to give Nazareth the lead, but the second one rimmed out.

“Those free throws were a lot of head space because I like to sing songs in moments like that,” Scully said. “I was singing ‘Loving on Me’ by Jack Harlow.”

The miss didn’t hurt because the Pirates were out of timeouts and the Roadrunners had a foul to give. Sakalas, who had a team-high 13 points and game-high eight rebounds, committed the foul at midcourt with 0.6 seconds left.

Pewaukee inbounded to Amy Terrian in the left corner, but her 3-point try was blocked by Dray.

“I made sure to wait until the ball was out of her hands,” Dray said. “There was a double screen and I just had to fight through it. I was trying to get it before she caught it, but when she caught it, I just knew she was going to turn. She didn’t know how close I was, so I put a hand up and she just threw it right into my hand.”

Dray finished with nine points and three steals. Austin had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Giselle Janowski scored 13 points and Retherford had 12 for Pewaukee, which became the latest high-ranking team dispatched by Nazareth.

“These girls amaze me,” Stritzel said. “They answer every challenge. Pewaukee is one of the tops in the nation but the spotlight is never too bright for our kids. They always show up.”

The goal, of course, is to make a run at the Class 4A state championship, one year after the Roadrunners captured the 3A crown.

“This doesn’t define our season,” Dray said. “We want to peak in March, so playing IMG and all those teams in Florida and then playing Pewaukee is preparing us tremendously for the playoff run.”