By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – There was one intangible that helped the Guerin Catholic girls basketball team to a win on Tuesday: Trust.
“Trusting themselves and then trusting each other,” said Golden Eagles coach Marc Quaranta. That simple act led Guerin Catholic past Shelbyville 45-42 at the Eagles Nest.
The Golden Eagles led 9-8 after the first quarter, with four different players scoring. Kathryn Loso had three points, with Katie Koger, Aliyah Dorsey and Nicole Cunningham all scoring two.
Guerin extended its lead to 15-10 midway through the second period, after Koger hit a 3-pointer and Dorsey converted a traditional three-point play with 4:28 to go. But the Golden Bears took over after that, scoring 10 straight points to lead 20-15 at halftime.
“One of our biggest faults over these last few games is, we can’t stay on the floor,” said Quaranta. “We finished the entire first half the last four minutes with four of our starters in foul trouble on the bench. We had one starter in. And we had faith to play those girls, but in those long stretches, we had two freshmen on the floor. Their first real varsity action.”
The Golden Eagles got it together in the third quarter. They opened the period with a 9-0 run, which consisted of five points from Cunningham (including a 3) and four points from Loso. That put GC up 24-20.
The remainder of the quarter was back-and-forth. Amy Brenner hit a 3 late in the period to put Shelbyville back up 32-31, but Guerin Catholic finished the game with consecutive baskets, one from Olivia Labus and a layin at the buzzer from Cunningham.
The Golden Bears made one last push in the fourth quarter, with Kylee Edwards’ layin giving Shelbyville a 39-38 lead. Loso put the Golden Eagles in front for good by making a pair of free throws with 4:20 left. Cunningham followed that up with a 3-pointer, her third of the game. That put Guerin ahead 43-39, and they were able to hang on from there.
Quaranta noted that in the second half, “I think we only ended up fouling four times.”
“We trusted our defense to drive them into the help,” said Quaranta. “We took two charges, which we’ve been preaching in practice, but these are the first two, maybe two of three all season that we’ve finally taken.”
Cunningham finished the game with 19 points, leading all scorers. Loso added 11 points.
The Golden Eagles are 5-9 for the season and travel to Bishop Chatard on Friday for a girls-boys Circle City Conference doubleheader. The girls will tip off at 6 p.m., with the boys to follow.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 45, SHELBYVILLE 42
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Katie Koger 2 1-4 6 0
Aliyah Dorsey 1 3-5 5 4
Nicole Cunningham 7 2-5 19 2
Kathryn Loso 3 5-6 11 3
Olivia Labus 2 0-0 4 2
Delaney Klee 0 0-0 0 2
MT Ford 0 0-0 0 1
Caitlyn Sharpe 0 0-0 0 0
Natalie Fernandez 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 15 11-20 45 14
Score by Quarters
Shelbyville 8 12 12 10 – 42
Guerin Catholic 9 6 20 10 – 45
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (4) Cunningham 3, Koger 1.
Guerin Catholic’s Aliyah Dorsey scored five points in the first half of the Golden Eagles’ game with Shelbyville Tuesday at the Eagles Nest. Guerin Catholic beat the Golden Bears 45-42. (Richie Hall)