COAL TOWNSHIP - Marian Catholic, even with some injury issues, is too good a team to get into a 14-point deficit against.
Lourdes Regional, after trailing 24-10 at halftime, battled back valiantly but came up short to the Fillies Saturday, 41-37, in the girls championship game of the 18th annual Red Raider Tipoff Classic.
Marian (2-0) scored all 14 of its fourth-quarter points at the foul line, hitting 14 of 17 shots, to fend off the Red Raiders (1-1). Senior guards Abby Whildin and Ashley Fannick calmly combined to make 16 of 19 fouls in leading the Fillies with 19 and 13 points, respectively.
By comparison Lourdes, although it finished 8 for 15 from the line, made just 1 of its first seven in falling behind.
"Yes, we definitely did (dig a hole)," said Lourdes coach Mike Klembara.
Klembara said a change to man-to-man defense at halftime helped the comeback.
"There's no doubt it caused them some problems," Klembara said. "We've probably played more man-to-man defense in our scrimmages and two games than we have in the past three or four years total. That's because we have the personnel to do it."
The defensive switch harassed the Fillies into 18 turnovers, and Marian took just eight shots from the floor in the second half and made just one. But it also eventually got Lourdes into foul trouble, as well. Whildin hit 8 of 11 foul shots and Fannick made all eight of her attempts.
The Red Raiders also had trouble finding consistency offensively. Selina Albert and Carmella Bickel each scored nine points, and Caity Funk added eight, respectively. But for example, all of Bickel's points came in the second half after she had trouble with Marian's defensive pressure in the first half.
Klembara said that he was pleased overall, with what his team did in the first two games.
"I think Selina Albert, as a freshman, had a much better second game than her first, which is a plus," he said. "Plus Krissy Komara did too. They were both solid but both can play better. But we're going to have to get more scoring off our first two players off the bench. I don't think either one of them scored in either game, and if that's going to be the case, no one is going to defend them.
"I'm proud of the girls for the way they battled back. They have nothing to be ashamed of. But we have a lot of work to do, too."
MARIAN (41) - Whildin 4 8-11 19, Fannick 2 8-8 13, Correale 1 0-0 2, Shaud 1 2-3 4, Agosti 0 0-0 0, Mahon 0 0-0 0, Capparrell 0 0-0 0, Raabe 0 0-0 0, Karnish 1 1-3 3. Totals 9 19-25 41.
LOURDES (37) - K. Komara 3 0-0 7, Trell 1 1-5 4, Krebs 0 0-0 0, Khanna 0 0-2 0, Bickel 3 3-4 9, Funk 2 4-4 8, Albert 4 0-0 9. Totals 13 8-15 37.
3-point FGs: Marian (4) - Whildin 3, Fannick; Lourdes (3) - Komara, Trell, Albert.