The loss was as encouraging as it was disappointing for Cardinal Spellman.
The Pilots had Moore Catholic, the defending Archdiocesan Class A champion, on the ropes, taking multiple small leads throughout the game, but never pulling away. Finally, too many turnovers mounted, lack of defensive rebounding reared its head and Moore finally got comfortable against its 1-3-1 zone.
Spellman left Moore with a 58-52 loss in a CHSAA Staten Island/Bronx girls basketball crossover Saturday. But it also came away feeling it can compete with the Mavericks when the diocesan playoffs start next week. The loss ends a 12-game winning streak for the Pilots and is their first loss to a Staten Island opponent this season. The victory will probably earn Moore the top seed in the tournament.
“Seeing that we lost the game to like little things, free throws, layups, little basic things, we know that we can beat this team,” Scott said. “Coming on in the playoffs we will be more aggressive and make up for our mistakes in this game.”
The junior scored 10 of her 15 points during a stellar first half, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. Troi Melton had 15 points and Linda McCaffrey added 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Taylor Baggs led Moore with 23 points and five steals. Alex Salaycik had eight points and 17 rebounds, Christina Rubin had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“If [Moore’s] 3s had been going down it would have been a different story,” Spellman coach Jane Morris said. “We got them to take the shots we wanted them to take.”
Her team’s zone frustrated Moore (18-5) for nearly three quarters. Spellman (18-4) went on an 8-0 run behind the play of Scott, who got into the passing lanes, and Melton to take a 29-21 lead on an Amber Griffin layup with 1:02 left in the first half. Moore answered with six straight points capped by 3-point runner by Rubin to make it 29-27 at the break. The Pilots’ last sizable lead came when Scott took a rebound coast to coast for a layup to put her team up 33-28 with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter.
“Tia does that all the time,” Melton said of Scott’s overall play. “She is a great point guard. She is an unselfish point guard. She scores when she has to.”
But whenever Spellman appeared ready to possibly open the game up, turnovers would follow. A 2-3 Moore zone began to taking away its driving lanes. Salaycik owned the weak side offensive rebounds and Baggs came up with big baskets. Spellman was still within 56-52 when McCaffrey hit a 3-pointer from the right side, but Moore made its free throws down the stretch. Spellman finishes its season against rival Maria Regina Monday in a key seeding game.
“It’s been happening all year,” Scott said of the inopportune turnovers. “It really burned us today. Hopefully we learn from that.”