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Girls basketball: Tampa Catholic 62, Plant 56

 
Published Dec. 21, 2016

TAMPA — As host of the Crusader Invitational girls basketball holiday tournament, Tampa Catholic could've scheduled a lesser opponent in the opening round. Trouble is, there are no lesser opponents in the tournament. So Crusaders coach Matthew Rocha scheduled Plant in the first game.

As expected, the game went down to the final seconds before Tampa Catholic pulled out a 62-56 win. The Crusaders (12-0) will play Central Tech (Pa.) at 7:30 in Wednesday night's semifinal. Plant (9-1) will play Seminole at 4:30 in a consolation game.

"It was kind of like, pick your poison. Which undefeated team do you want to play?" Rocha said. "We never get to play Plant so our girls wanted to play them. They are a very good team."

Plant led for most of the first half. The Panthers were up 19-15 after the first quarter and stayed ahead in the second as well. Plant led by as much as 31-25 midway through the second after a layup by Kim Shaw. Tampa Catholic cut the lead to 33-32 at halftime after Ashley Sieper hit 3-of-4 free throws.

The third quarter belonged to the Crusaders. Alise Davis started it off by hitting a 10-footer to give Tampa Catholic a 34-33 lead. It was a lead the Crusaders would not give up. Nursing a one point lead, they went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter. In the run, Sieper hit two shots and Tanyia Gordon and Davis each hit jumpers.

The lead swelled to 53-41 with just over four minutes left in the game. Then came an 8-0 Plant run that included 3-pointers from Bella Moreno and Payton Paro. The teams traded baskets, but then with under a minute to play, Alexys Mathangant hit a 10-footer and Paro was fouled on a 3-point attempt. She made all three free throws to cut the lead to 59-56.

Plant got the ball back, but with 13 second left, Davis stole a pass and was fouled. She hit one free throw, then made a layup after another steal to seal the game.

"I saw the ball coming and I didn't want to jump out and miss and let them score," said Davis, who is verbally committed to Coastal Carolina. "It was risky, but I had to get it."

Davis scored a game-best 26. Gordon added 15 for Tampa Catholic and Sieper had 10. Paro led Plant with 21. Moreno had nine.