Girls: T.M.L.A. puts Christ the King on Smash
FLUSHING, NY- For years it's been known that if you wanted to win the BQGCHSAA you were going to have to take down Christ the King, and while Saturday afternoon's game for The Mary Louis Academy against the Royals wasn't a game that would ultimately dictate how the rest of their season would play out, a win would certainly bolster their belief, and chances going forward.
It was a statement game as well for TMLA, hoping to finally get over the hump having not beaten Christ the King since February, 2010, and led by a dominant effort from their McDonald's All-American forward Danielle Patterson '17, the Hilltoppers never trailed en route to a convincing, and statement making, 68-52 victory.
Saying that she didn't look at Saturday's game against Christ the King as anything more than just another league game she wanted to win, Mary Louis head coach JoAnn Arbitello-Pinnock was clearly trying to downplay the important of what a win against the defending league champions would mean, but it's been since Karin Robinson suited up for the Hilltoppers 6 years ago that TMLA has downed Christ the King, so while everyone around the program may have been saying otherwise, a victory would definitely speak volumes as to where the Hilltoppers are as a program now.
Right out of the gate it seemed like Mary Louis were playing with a different kind of fire and passion. Maybe it was the confidence from having defeated Regis Jesuit (CO), Baldwin, and Ossining all in the past 8 days, or maybe it was just the fact that they are coming together as a group at the right time, but the Hilltoppers from the start were near impossible to stop.
Vanerlie Valcourt '18 was able to score 5 quick points, and with Patterson able to do nearly anything she wanted in the paint, TMLA jumped out to a quick 9-point lead.
Christ the King made a run early in the 2nd quarter behind the play of Jaeonna Sutton '18 and Kaelynn Satterfield '19 in the backcourt as they were able to apply pressure and create mistakes to allow the Royals to get within 24-21, but The Mary Louis Academy ended the run right there.
Patterson would connect on an elbow jumper, and she would follow that up with 8 points during a 10-0 run to extend the TMLA lead late in the half back up to 13, eventually going into the locker room up 36-25, seizing control of the game.
It was an enormous 17-point half for Patterson, who on Sunday was named a McDonald's All-American, and while she was picking apart of the Christ the King defense in and around the paint, she said it was all about her team, and the desire to win that allowed her to have the first half that she did.
"I was motivated, really motivated," Patterson stated. "I just did what my team needed me to do. They needed me to get rebounds, I'd go under the basket. I did whatever they asked of me."
The lead was pushed up to as many as 17 in the 3rd for TMLA as Patterson kept her foot on the gas, but wing jumpers by Jordan Nixon '18 and Kayla Podlovits '17 meant others on the team were also stepping up to the plate to do damage.
Klarke Sconiers '19 was able to score just before the buzzer to end the 3rd to make it a 10-point game, but even with the Royals still technically within striking distance, the Hilltoppers were bound and determined to make sure this was their game, and their moment.
Nixon had back to back big buckets early in the 4th, one where she cut to the rim and finished inside off a nice feed from Kania Pollock '18, and the other where she went down the wing, beating her defender for the score.
Each time it looked as if the Royals was going to make a run, The Mary Louis Academy had the answer, and as the seconds counted down it was clear to everyone in attendance that a statement was surely made as the Hilltoppers were able to lead wire to wire and take a 68-52 victory over Christ the King.
It was a McDonald's All-American type of performance for the McDonald's All-American as Patterson led TMLA with 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Nixon added 14 points, and Valcourt had 13 points in was a game to remember for Mary Louis.
The dominating effort for Patterson was no surprise to Arbitello-Pinnock as having coached her now for 2 years she knows how dangerous a player she can be, and when she has it going like she did today, she becomes near impossible to stop.
"Dani is starting to come into her own. She knows where she feels comfortable scoring the ball from and there's really no one in the league that can really guard her," Arbitello-Pinnock said. "She definitely does a tremendous job scoring the basketball."
She did that today plus some as even defensively Patterson was a major weapon limited the Christ the King interior threats to performances well below their averages as Sutton was the leading scorer for the Royals with 12 points, with Sconiers chipping in with 11 as well in the defeat.
Even with most of the team downplaying it, you could still tell how big it was for The Mary Louis Academy to finally break their slump against Christ the King. Saturday was the first time as the head coach of TMLA that Arbitello-Pinnock was able to take down the Royals, and while their main goals are still to win a BQGCHSAA Championship, and a CHSAA Class "AA" State Championship after that, even Patterson admitted that this one was special.
“I think it was big and I think we knew we had to come out and take care of business which was the ultimate thing that we knew we had to do," Patterson said.
They did that for sure, downing Christ the King and anointing themselves the favorites in the BQGCHSAA, at least until the next time the two face off in less than two weeks when it will be the Royals this time out looking for revenge.
