Jackie Kresse knows a thing or two about finishing off basketball games. The senior guard helped The Mary Louis Academy beat St. Anthony’s (L.I.) with a putback at the buzzer earlier this season. This time it was a little different, but ultimately the same result.
“That one was kind of instinctive,” Kresse said. “I just shot it at the buzzer. [This time] I was on the foul line and I had to think about it. I knew that I just had to knock them down.”
Mary Louis had not capitalized on opportunities to put Archbishop Molloy away down the stretch until Kresse, who had missed a front end seconds earlier, made two free throws with six second left in the game to put her team up four. Two Marielle Duryea free throws gave the Stanners some life, but Kyra Aloizos’ shot from half court hit the front rim at the buzzer. Mary Louis held on for a 52-49 win in a CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball at Jack Curran Gymnasium Wednesday night.
“The next time we are in this situation I want Kresse being the one going for the ball,” Hilltoppers coach Joe Lewinger said.
She scored 12 points, including two 3-pointers. Camille Romero scored 14 points. Karin Robinson, who was phenomenal on the defense end in the fourth, scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and collected five steals. Avis Benjamin, who is battling nagging injuries, added seven points and seven boards.
Mary Louis (8-3, 5-1 B/Q), which trailed just twice after the first quarter in a tight, physical game after the first quarter, grabbed a 45-40 fourth-quarter lead on a pullup jumper from Robinson with 4:20 left. Molloy (6-6, 3-2) responded with an Amani Tatum 3-pointer, an Elizabeth (Gurt) Lynch jumper and an Aloizos free throw to tie the score at 46 with 1:10 left.
Robinson put TMLA back ahead, 49-46, with three free throws in four tries. Tatum then missed the second of two, and Aloizos a putback, before Robinson stole the ball. Molloy would get ball back on the left sideline in their end with 19 seconds left, but Robinson and Romero forced a jump ball on the inbounds. Christy Calderon tipped out a rebound as Robinson missed a free throw, before Kresse gave TMLA some breathing room.
“It’s the fourth quarter,” Robinson said of TMLA’s extra hustle. “It determines everything.”
Molloy led 10-2 at the start of the game, but Mary Louis scored 10 straight points, eight with Robinson on the bench, to take a two-point lead into the second quarter. The Stanners were flusteedr by the Hilltoppers’ trapping zone and press at times, but also broke it handily when with it made runs to keep things close.
Calderon, though, made life extremely difficult for Molloy sharpshooter Kelly Guerriero, who was guarded tightly all game. Guerriero scored nine points and hit just one 3-pointer. Mary Louis collected 17 steals. Aloizos scored 14 points and Duryea added 10 for Molloy.
“Every time you read an article in The Post, you read Kerry Guerriero got hot,” Lewinger said. “We kind just said we are not going to let her go off on us.”
Still neither team seemed prepared to secure the win until Kresse, who has been a key contributor to a balanced TMLA attack, stepped to the line for the final time.
“I really wanted this,” she said. “I know the team really wanted this. We came out and showed that we wanted this and we took it.”