Ursuline girls hang on for 51-49 victory over SVSM

Ursuline lost an 11-point fourth-quarter lead before earning the win.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — After seeing their 11-point fourth-quarter lead dissolve in Saturday’s 51-49 win over Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, several members of the Ursuline High girls basketball team were asked what they learned from another close call.

“That we can actually finish games,” junior Vicky Miles said. “We showed some intensity and played with heart.”

Ursuline (12-7) seemingly had SVSM (8-11) on the ropes with a 44-33 lead. But with 13 second-half points, Amanda Olszewski was the trigger on SVSM’s comeback.

However, Olszewski and Emily Wilde each had four fouls while Chelsea Ciptak and Jill Brownfield had three as the Ursuline lead was whittled to 46-42 with three minutes to go. Moments later, Wilde fouled out. Olszewski made a free throw then fouled out with 1:38 to play.

Despite Ciptak and Brownfield earning their fourth fouls, SVSM kept surging, tying the score at 49 when Maria Arnone and Jaclyn Murry sank free throws.

“We certainly made some questionable decisions down the stretch,” Ursuline coach Sean Durkin said. “We made a couple of fouls when we were up by four to put them on the line.

“Those are things that young teams do, but we’ve been hoping that at the end of the year, we’d be beyond that,” Durkin said. “We’ve got to get our basketball IQ at a little higher level.”

Riding to the rescue was senior forward Jaleesa Beverly. With 17 seconds to play, Beverly took a sharp pass from sophomore guard Lucy Petrus and scored from underneath the basket for the final lead. And in the final seconds, she pulled down SVSM’s final missed shot to seal the win.

“She’s a great leader, she keeps us focused,” Petrus said of Beverly. “When we fool around, she’s on us to be serious.”

Added Durkin: “Pretty much every run we made, [Beverly] keyed. She had a couple of steals in the second quarter, a couple more in the third. And when things went awry for us in the fourth, she made a couple of big plays that really allowed us to hold on.”

Beverly finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and block.

“At times, she looks better when her points are quiet,” Durkin said. “She let the game come to her today and her baskets were pretty easy.”

Jasmine Brown scored nine points while Petrus and Keneesha Tensley had eight apiece.

“In crunch time, we have to play smart and make smart decisions,” said Beverly, “but Jasmine Brown hustled all four quarters all over the court.”

SVSM dominated the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-2 lead. Ursuline responded by outscoring SVSM 18-6 in the second quarter for a six-point halftime lead.

Ursuline closes the regular season at home Thursday against Steel Valley Conference rival Mooney. The Irish will win the SVC outright with a victory, but a Mooney win would create a tie between the Irish, the Cardinals and perhaps Warren Harding.

Ursuline is the third seed at the Division III district tournament at Mineral Ridge.

For SVSM (the third seed at the Div. II Massillon district), Olszewski scored 17 points and Arnone 14.

williams@vindy.com