Notre Dame High School’s girls basketball team knows that no matter how frigid the shooting becomes, the Crusaders can still get the job done defensively.
Second-seeded Notre Dame (19-4) leaned on its ‘D’ to defeat third-seeded Bangor 32-27 in the Colonial League semifinals on Tuesday night at Catasauqua High School.
The Crusaders advance to meet top seed Southern Lehigh in the league final 6 p.m. Friday at a site to be determined.
Bangor (19-5) trailed by as many as eight in the second half, but used an 8-1 run to knot the score at 26-26 on a couple of free throws from Brieann Ohland with 5:07 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After a steal from Notre Dame senior Cailee Murphy, classmate Kelsey Gorman put her team back on top with two from the charity stripe, and then the Crusaders burrowed in defensively.
“I got the feeling we just were not going to be denied,” Notre Dame coach Josh Kopp said. “… Our kids really dug deep there in the fourth quarter and I’m really proud of the defensive effort.”
Bangor had possession for more than a minute with a chance to tie or take the lead. The Slaters missed a pair of free throws, but got the offensive board. The Crusaders then forced a miss, but the rebound resulted in a jump ball and stayed with Bangor. Finally, Notre Dame got another stop and the defensive rebound.
“Bangor really took it to us and they gave us their all,” said Notre Dame senior Cassie Kelly, who had eight points. “Our team really focused on shutting them down on defense. I think that’s where we had most of our success.”
Kelly made a free throw to stretch the lead to 29-26 with 54 seconds left. She later forced a steal and knocked down a pair from the charity stripe push the lead to 31-26 with 12.2 seconds on the clock.
“I just relaxed and thought of what I do during practice,” Kelly said of the free throws. “I took a couple deep breaths and slowed myself down.”
Notre Dame forced Bangor into a 10-minute scoring drought in the first half and a four-minute scoreless segment in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, their offense couldn’t build an overwhelming advantage in those stretches.
The struggles to score didn’t bleed into the effort on the other side of the floor for Notre Dame, however.
“We like to say, if you miss a shot or have a turnover: get it back on defense,” Gorman said.
The Crusaders have also experienced scoring troubles before, which made Tuesday night’s challenge easier to deal with, according to Kopp.
“We had some shooting woes early in the season, so we went through some growing pains,” he said. “We hadn’t experienced it recently. I think going through that adversity in the beginning has prepared us for a situation like tonight.”
“We definitely didn’t have one of our better shooting nights,” Gorman said. “We always reinforce being positive and picking each other up. They’re not all going to go in, but if you’re open, you’ve still got to take them and they’ll eventually fall.”
Next, NDGP has another opportunity against top seed Southern Lehigh, which beat the Crusaders 48-38 on Jan. 3.
“We’re going to have a challenge on our hands. They offer so many different offensive options that we have to consider,” Kopp said. “Our girls are really happy about having the chance to play for a league championship. This was one of their goals heading into this year … I know they’re not going to be satisfied just getting there. They want to go compete; they want to go win.”
Kelly knows that a stellar effort will be needed to slow down the Spartans.
“Offense sells tickets; defense wins championships,” she said. “So, we hope to win on Friday.”
Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KyleCraigSports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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