Irish survive in semifinal

Tiffani Miller's rebounding and offense in the final 1:30 were crucial contributions for Ursuline.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- Ursuline senior Tyra Grant didn't walk through Thursday's postgame handshake line, she limped. She grabbed her chest. She hung her head. She barely cracked a smile.
In short, she survived.
And so did the Irish.
With Grant fighting the flu, and the Irish fighting the "Bardall stall," the Irish did just enough to hold off against Sugarcreek Garaway, winning 39-31 to advance to Saturday's Division III state final against Plain City Jonathan Alder at Value City Arena.
"I thought it was an absolute war," said Ursuline coach Sean Durkin. "Like I told everyone before the game, whoever won the battle of tempo had the advantage.
"Obviously, we lost that battle."
Observations
Entering the game, most observers felt the Irish (22-4) would be too athletic for the Pirates, who were making their third state tournament appearance. But Garaway's diamond-and-one defense -- something coach Scott Bardall put in on Tuesday -- and its deliberate pace on both ends allowed the Pirates to stay close.
"We didn't come here to not get beat by 30," said Bardall. "Why would we leave beautiful Tuscarawas County and come here to not get beat by 30? We decided to take a chance and if they beat us, they beat us."
Ursuline almost didn't.
Garaway sophomore Laura Bardall got the Pirates (24-3) within three, 34-31, with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter when she got underneath Grant for a layup.
After Ursuline senior Vannessa Dickson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:35 left, the Pirates had a chance to tie.
But Molly Hershberger missed a jumper and Irish senior Tiffani Miller (Ursuline's best defender) grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to put them up by five.
Then, after a missed 3-point attempt by Hershberger, Dickson grabbed the rebound, passed to Mariah Snyder, who found Miller out in front. Miller cruised downcourt for a layup to give the Irish a seven-point lead with 47 seconds left.
That pretty much did it.
Role alteration
"It's a little unusual for Tiffani to put the game away on the offensive end," said Durkin, who coached the Irish to the Div. III state title in 2004. "Usually she does it on the defensive end."
Grant, who was named Ohio's Ms. Basketball on Wednesday, finished with 17 points -- 14 below her average -- to go along with five rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
"We can't concede 31 points to Grant," said Bardall. "We put the diamond-and-one in on Tuesday figuring it would make it so she couldn't get to the rim. We knew we couldn't play man-to-man.
"I thought we did a masterful job on defense. I couldn't have asked for anything more."
Miller added eight points -- three above her average -- and played solid defense on Bardall. Bardall scored 17 points, but she shot just 8 for 18 and had three turnovers.
"She's a really good player," Miller said of Bardall. "I just tried to play the best defense I could."
Garaway did the same. The Irish have faced plenty of teams this season that tried to slow the pace on them, but none were as effective as the Pirates.
Four other teams have held the Irish to 50 points or fewer this season. Ursuline lost all four games.
"We've seen it quite a bit," said Durkin of the slower pace. "But the teams that try to do that aren't as talented as Sugarcreek.
"Obviously, they had a good game plan."
scalzo@vindy.com