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Larson’s big 4th keys Mooney past Boardman
By Brandon Judeh
BOARDMAN
A dominant fourth quarter by Katrina Larson helped the Mooney girls basketball team hold off Boardman 60-49 Thursday night.
Larson had a game-high 18 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, which helped the Cardinals pull away from a pesky young Spartans team.
“All of my adrenaline and the enthusiasm our team had took over in the fourth quarter,” Larson said. “It has been a very long time since we beat them and this is a great feeling for my teammates and I to come on their court and beat them.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mooney.
The Cardinals (6-3) got into early foul trouble in the first half; in fact they sent Boardman to the free throw line a staggering 20 times in the first half.
“When the calls weren’t going our way that is when our experience kicked in and we stayed motivated and continued to play aggressive defense,” said Mooney head coach Bill Ritter.
Though the Spartans (2-7) only hit six buckets in the first half, they managed to stay within two points of Mooney at halftime. This was due in large part to hitting 11 first half free throws, solid passing and clutch defense.
Boardman intern coach, Jeff Hammerton, knows that his team needs to improve their free throw shooting, but is pleased with their execution of the game plan.
“We did a good job of nailing down our game plan of getting to the foul line, however we were 11-20 from the line in the first half and hitting more free throws is something we need to work on,” he said. “We can definitely build off of the positive things we did out there.”
Coming out of the half, Mooney continued with their solid play, but Spartans sophomores Kellie Tomcsayni and Briana Fonderlin hit big 3-pointers to keep their team in the game.
The fourth quarter, however, was a different story.
“Going into the third it was a close back-and-forth game,” Ritter said. “I told our girls that the fourth quarter is our quarter and we are going to play hard and smart and get the win.”
Mooney senior forward Larson, along with Taylor Woytek, took over the game. Larson’s 18 points and Woytek’s 11 total points and 12 rebounds helped the Cardinals pull away from Boardman.
“It was a tough game out there, we overcame a lot and stuck with our game plan,” Larson said. “Our experience led us through the entire game.”
Also contributing to the Mooney offensive attack were Christine Pelini with 12 points and Jamie DiDomenico with 11.
“It was reversed in the second half; we got to the free throw line and hit some key buckets, where in the first half we missed a few easy buckets,” Ritter said. “I am very proud of our girls’ effort and hard work. It is all paying off.”
Having big games for the Spartans were Emily Gibbs with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jenna Kuczek added 15 points and Tomcsayni chipped in with 13.