Kelly Guerriero threw an errant pass across the top of the key to Marielle Duryea, who then found herself in a foot race for the loose ball with Bishop Ford’s Shayra Brown. The Archbishop Molloy point guard and Brown got to the ball at nearly the exactly time, but the Falcons star willed her way to poking it free.
“I knew I could get to it,” Brown said. “I am fast. I was like, there is no way she is going to catch me. I’m going to go and lay the ball up.”
The Boston-College bound guard’s fast-break basket put Ford up five with 3:10 left in the game and was prototypical of the mindset of Brown and fellow senior Vanessa D’Ambrosi in the second half. The two combined for 15 of the Falcons’ 20 fourth-quarter points including a 3-point play by Brown that put the game away with 1:01 remaining after Molloy cut the lead to just one.
“We were just like, ‘We have to win this game. We have to step up,’” said D’Ambrosi, who is headed to St. Anselm. “We are seniors. We have to be leaders and take control.”
She finished with 24 points and nine rebounds and Brown scored seven of her 19 in the fourth quarter and added nine boards as Ford held off host Archbishop Molloy, 63-58, in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens girls basketball. The Falcons rebounded from their first loss of the season to St. Francis Prep in overtime on Tuesday.
“This was a game that we had to redeem ourselves from the St. Francis Prep loss and show that we can still win this thing,” D’Ambrosi said.
Ford (6-1, 3-1 B/Q) got off to a slow start against an emotionally charged Stanners squad, which jumped ahead 18-5 late in the first quarter, before D’Ambrosi shot her team back. She connected on three 3-pointers over the final two minutes of the first to cut the lead to 19-16 and stabilize the game.
“When we knew she is about to be on fire, that just boosts everyone’s confidence,” Brown said.
Duryea and Molloy backup point guard Amani Tatum both found themselves in foul trouble early in the second quarter. Ford, which played without guard Shanice Vaughan because of a knee injury that will keep her out until early January, began to win the rebound battle and get out in transition as Molloy missed jump shots. Kyra Aloizos finished with 21 points and Kelly Guerriero had 17, including four 3-pointers, for the Stanners (3-1, 2-1)
“We knew it was going to be risky with the traps because of the way Molloy shoots,” Falcons coach Mike Toro said. “We risked it and it worked.”
Ford took its first lead late in the second quarter and took a 47-43 advantage into the fourth on a Brown 3-pointer from the left side. Molloy got within 57-56 with 2:22 left in the game on a Guerriero 3-pointer and a pretty post move by Aloizos, but Duryea missed an open 3-pointer from the left side, before Brown put the game away.
“I said [at practice] someone was going to have to step up, Toro said. “It was good to see the two seniors try to take that that leadership role and step up.”