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Ursuline’s Harris reaches milestone, but Mooney wins
By BOB ETTINGER
YOUNGSTOWN
Camden Hergenrother and her Cardinal Mooney teammates have spent their entire careers toiling in the shadow of rival Dayshanette Harris. Hergenrother and the Cardinals fought their way into the spotlight spoiling Harris’ celebration of a career milestone with a 59-49 victory on the road at Ursuline on Wednesday night.
It was the first time in eight tries the Mooney seniors have toppled the Fighting Irish.
“We knew we had to come out and play hard as a team,” Hergenrother said. “We hadn’t beaten them in my career. It was nice to beat them in my senior year on their floor. It’s nice to beat a player like Day-Day. She’s so shifty on the court. I had to come out and play my game the best I could.”
With 2:33 to play in the third quarter, Harris knocked down the first of two free throws to reach 2,000 points in her career. After a brief pause during which the entire Ursuline program hugged her, Harris calmly scored her 2,001st point with the second of her charity tosses.
“I’d much rather have gotten the win, but 2,000 points is awesome accomplishment,” Harris said. “I’m happy the team was able to help me. I owe it all to them. First and foremost, I want to thank God, then my coaches, my teammates and my brothers. They’re the ones who got me into the game.”
Harris entered the contest with 1,984 points and finished it with 2,008. Teammate Anyah Curd passed up a possible layup, opting to dish to Harris in order to get her the landmark points. Harris missed the shot, got her own rebound and was fouled on the subsequent shot attempt.
“[Anyah] knows me,” Harris said. “She knows I’d make the layup more easily [than the jumper]. [When Curd had the ball on the fastbreak] I thought, ‘Oh! Here it goes.’ Either there was going to be a foul or I was going to get that bucket. I knew she would [pass me the ball] the way she told me to run as we were coming up the court.”
The Cardinals (5-1) used a 12-2 run in which five different players scored to turn a 15-6 deficit into a 21-17 advantage with 3:33 remaining in the first half. After the Fighting Irish (3-4) tied it at 21, Hergenrother scored four points in a 6-0 Mooney spurt to put Mooney in front for good.
“The girls work so hard every single day,” Mooney coach Jason Baker said. “Every day at practice, I can see they’re starting to believe. They focus on getting better every day. The second quarter definitely set the tone. From that point, they did believe. They did believe and they got more and more confident as the game went on.”
The unsung hero may well have been a diminutive guard in off the bench for the Cardinals.
“Gia Diorio went in the game and really pressured Harris. She gave the team such an emotional lift. That really helped with the confidence.”
The Fighting Irish never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
“Like I told the kids before the game, Mooney is a team that just sticks around,” Ursuline coach Vannessa Dickson said. “They stick together and they play hard. If you let them hang around, that’s what happens. I don’t think we came ready to play. We were lackadaisical. But that’s what a rivalry is. You can’t win every one or it isn’t a rivalry. Just for the record, the seniors are 7-1 against Mooney.”
Hergenrother led the Cardinals with 25 points. She connected on five 3-pointers, had nine rebounds and four steals.
“I’m a shooter when I’m on,” Hergenrother said. “I’m a shooter when I make it. It felt great, but it’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
Caitlin Perry scored 10 points and Katie Hough added nine points, 12 boards and three assists off the bench for Mooney.
Harris paced Ursuline with 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals and Cara McNally knocked down four 3-pointers in scoring 13 points.