OSSINING, NY- For much of the past decade it's been Ossining who have been running wild as the favorite and champions year after year in Class AA in Section 1. Our Lady of Lourdes was a power back in the 1990's but over time their reign on top was handed over to the Pride.

This season the script looks flipped again as Ava Learn '21 had 26 points to lead the Warriors as Lourdes came down to Ossining and made a statement in a dominating 83-50 victory.

It was something of a track meet at the start of the game as Julia Iorio '20 opened with a corner three to get Ossining on the board first, while Learn would go on to score 12 points in the opening quarter alone. Lourdes would lead 25-20 after one and it wasn't anywhere close to the type of game that Warriors head coach Al Viani said he was looking for from his group.

"25-20 after one I said this is crazy it's going to be a 100-80 game if we don't clamp down and play some defense," Viani stated. "We had to tighten it up."

The Warriors did just that as a good shooting Ossining team saw nearly all their looks from the outside be contested as Lourdes was doing an excellent job closing out, and while the Pride began to focus in more on Learn, it was Learn making sure it wasn't all about her.

As soon as the double, or sometime triple team, came Learn's way in the second quarter she was there to make the pass to a cutting Sofia Feigelson '21, or kick it out to an open Ashley Seymour '21 on the wing. Skyler Felice '21 also got in on the act with a couple of threes’ as the Lourdes lead expanded to 47-32 at the break.

After a big opening quarter it was Learn scoring just 4 points in the second, though it was her ability to get those around her good looks that allowed the Lourdes lead to be bumped up to 15 at the half, and something that Learn got a lot of pride out of as well.

"It makes me so excited," Learn said about seeing her teammates thrive offensively. "I knew they could do it; I was just waiting for them to do it and tonight they did it."

Getting back into the scoring act early in the second half, Learn opened the third quarter with back to back putbacks around the rim while getting fouled as she scored 6 points in a 32 second span to give Lourdes a 53-32 lead with 6:52 to go in the third. Soon after that Learn would pick up her 3rd foul and go to the bench for the remainder of the stanza, but it was the likes of Felice and Seymour doing the job again.

The fact that the Lourdes supporting cast played as well as they did didn't shock Learn, and it definitely didn't shock Viani either who said they have been practicing preparing for moments like this.

"We work on that because teams are so geared to stop Ava and she knows that and is always ready to pass the ball. She made great decisions tonight and everyone else really stepped up in a big way," Viani explained.

It was a 64-43 Our Lady of Lourdes lead going into the fourth, and with back to back Seymour baskets, and then a beautiful cut to the rim and finish by Learn, the first six points of the final quarter went to the Warriors whose lead only continued to grow. There was very little Ossining could do as after Iorio made the opening three ball of the game for the Pride they would only hit one more as a team the rest of the way, struggling from the outside which left them in a very difficult position.

From start to finish this was all about what Lourdes as able to do as they made a major statement coming down to Ossining on Friday and showing they are among Section 1's best this season in dominating the Pride to take an 83-50 victory.

Besides Learn's 26 points it was a 15-point outing for Seymour, a 14-point game for Feigelson, with Felico chipping in with 12 as four Lourdes players finished in double figures in an outing that Viani said was a bit extra sweet.

He has seen more than his fair share of rough Lourdes losses to Ossining over the past decade and said the fact that it was the Warriors on the winning side this time had his happy inside.

"They have beaten us by more than this for many years so it felt good to be able to win this one running away, but more importantly for us it was an important game, a Section 1 game and most importantly we played well and got the win which is all that really matters," Viani said.

Adriana McFadden '20 fouled out late in the third quarter but still led Ossining with 13 points, with fellow senior Brooke Weeks '20 adding 12 points as well in the defeat.

What this win did was give the Warriors a little bit more pep in their step as they left the Ossining gymnasium and headed back up to Poughkeepsie in the rain with Learn believing more than ever now that this is a special group with potential for special things the rest of the season.

"If we keep doing what we are doing, and what we know we know we can do, then I think we can definitely go places this year," Learn added with a big smile after the big win.