By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – The Guerin Catholic girls basketball team had a goal for its first sectional game: To be able to practice on Thursday.
To do that, the Golden Eagles would have to win their first-round game at Class 3A Sectional 27 at Bishop Chatard. Guerin did so, easily, beating Shortridge 50-21. The Golden Eagles advanced to Friday’s semi-final, where they will play Heritage Christian, a 76-18 winner over Manual.
“We didn’t want to talk wins and losses, we just wanted to be able to practice tomorrow,” said GC coach Marc Quaranta. “We got to go in and work hard, because Friday’s going to be a pretty tough challenge.”
Guerin Catholic never trailed against Shortridge, but the game was a scrappy one. The Golden Eagles led 13-5 after the first quarter, finishing the period on a 6-0 run. Olivia Labus scored five of GC’s first seven points, with Aliyah Dorsey also making a layin. Kathryn Loso, MT Ford and Nicole Cunningham all made baskets during the Golden Eagles’ late run.
Guerin took a 23-11 lead into halftime, with Loso finishing the half by making a triple. The Golden Eagles then used a 13-0 run to dominate the third quarter, with Dorsey contributing six points. Meanwhile, Guerin Catholic held the Blue Devils to just one basket at the beginning of the quarter, and a free throw at the end.
“We pride ourselves on guarding the ball and being aggressive defensively,” said Quaranta.
The Golden Eagles began the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run, including five points from Cunningham. Freshman Megan Cobb helped out with four points in the quarter.
“We made a few, not really adjustments, but just tried to emphasize a couple things about helping in the paint and they did a better job in the second half,” said Quaranta.
Balance was the key for Guerin. Loso led the scoring with 11 points, followed by Labus with 10. Cunningham added nine points, Dorsey had eight and Ford had seven.
Guerin Catholic improved to 9-14 after the win.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 50, SHORTRIDGE 21
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Katie Koger 0 1-4 1 1
Aliyah Dorsey 4 0-2 8 1
Nicole Cunningham 4 0-0 9 2
Kathryn Loso 4 2-3 11 1
Olivia Labus 3 4-8 10 2
Delaney Klee 0 0-1 0 0
MT Ford 3 0-2 7 1
Mia Thompson 0 0-0 0 5
Ally Sponhauer 0 0-0 0 3
Caitlyn Sharpe 0 0-0 0 0
Hannah Weitzel 0 0-0 0 0
Megan Cobb 2 0-0 4 2
Totals 20 7-20 50 18
Score by Quarters
Shortridge 5 6 3 7 – 21
Guerin Catholic 13 10 13 14 – 50
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (3) Cunningham 1, Loso 1, Ford 1.
Guerin Catholic’s Nicole Cunningham scored nine points for the Golden Eagles during their Sectional 27 game against Shortridge Wednesday at Bishop Chatard. Guerin Catholic won 50-21 to advance to Friday’s semi-finals. (Richie Hall)
Guerin Catholic’s Nicole Cunningham scored nine points for the Golden Eagles during their Sectional 27 game against Shortridge Wednesday at Bishop Chatard. Guerin Catholic won 50-21 to advance to Friday’s semi-finals. (Richie Hall)