Red Knights top Angels for title
Paul Kopsky/STLhighschoolSPORTS.com | Incarnate Word's Julia Kohnen (top) dives over St. Joseph's Morgan Stock to try to get to a loose ball during Saturday's game at CBC.
Incarnate Word looked like a completely different team in the second half Saturday.
The Red Knights’ patience on offense and ball-pressure defense reversed the first-half trend and boosted Incarnate Word to a 55-47 victory over St. Joseph’s in the Class 5 District 3 title game at CBC.
IWA advances to play Parkway South Wednesday at UMSL.
Trailing by seven at halftime, Incarnate Word (26-1) started the third quarter re-energized. Brittany Carter opened with a 3-pointer, and Brianna Puni’s defensive rebound led to a transition lay-up by Jazmin Hitchins that pulled IWA to within 34-32 of the Angels (21-8).
“They really got sparked at the beginning of the third quarter, and that’s usually when we make our run,” Incarnate Word coach Dan Rolfes said.
IWA’s pressure led to a Chloe Nelson steal and a Puni basket to close the deficit to 40-39 with 2:36 left in the third. After another forced turnover on the subsequent possession, Nelson hit a runner that returned the lead to the Red Knights for good.
The Red Knights held the ball for nearly 50 seconds to close out the third, and Hitchens swooped in for a putback just before the buzzer to give IWA a 45-41 edge heading into the final period.
It was still a four-point lead midway through the fourth quarter after back-to-back St. Joe’s baskets by Morgan Stock and Erin Nelson. But, the Red Knights again found Puni in the paint, and after a foul, she converted both free throws for a 51-45 lead and only 2:05 remaining.
St. Joseph’s would only score two free throws the final two minutes of the game.
“We tried to D up on the guards more, and then I tried to play more in front of (Sydney) Stipanovich, and when she got it, we tried to double on her,” said Puni, who had 13 points. “We tried to slow it down and play our game more.”
Nelson led the Red Knights with 14 points, and Hitchens add 12.
