By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
After a back-and-forth first quarter, homestanding St. Anne’s-Belfield exploited St. Gertrude’s reach-prone defense to build a double-digit lead over the second and third quarters and coast to the Saints’ fourth win of the season over the Gators with a 60-43 victory in a VISAA Division I State Quarterfinal.
“I knew [St. Gertrude] was going to come out and be aggressive; they had nothing to lose because we had already beaten them three times,” said STAB coach Phil Stinnie. “I told the girls, ‘if we put it in drive, we can get them in the double bonus pretty easily,’ and that’s what we did.”
Leading just 14-13 after one, the Saints’ veteran frontcourt drew frequent whistles throughout the second: combined, Emily Battle, Mailynn Steppe, and Ashley Taylor connected on 13 of 15 free throws in the quarter.
“The last couple times we played them, it’s been really close in the first two quarters,” Taylor said. “We just decided to be really aggressive. They were fouling a lot, so driving to the basket and drawing fouls instead of settling for jump shots was the key tonight.”
Still, St. Gertrude hung in by knocking down open jumpers, managing another 13 points in the second to pull within 35-26 at the break. Gators’ senior guard Emily Niemann had a pair of three-pointers and finished the half with a team-high nine points.
“We started gambling too much and giving up some easy shots,” said Stinnie on what prompted his halftime decision to shift from a 2-3 zone to man to start the third quarter. “We said we were just going to get in their space and make everything difficult for them.”
The defensive switch proved effective as STAB opened a 16-point lead with a 9-2 run over the first half of the third. The Saints went back to the zone in the fourth quarter just as the Gators went ice cold from the floor, failing to hit a field goal in the final eight minutes.
Taylor and sophomore guard Brianna Tinsley led three Saints in double figures with 17 points each. Steppe finished with 12. Niemann led St. Gertrude with 11 points, while junior forward Sydney Venable added 10.
“We have a three-headed horseman in Steppe, Taylor, and Tinsley,” said Stinnie. “They missed some shots that they usually make, but they made up for it on the free throw line.”
STAB (26-2) will host Bishop O’Connell in a state semifinal on Friday. Tip-off is set for 4:45pm.
