Girls basketball: Albertus Magnus survives more drama and closes out White Plains
Mike DoughertyWHITE PLAINS – There’s rarely a dull moment.
Albertus Magnus has a habit of making things interesting down the stretch of important games and has learned to deal with that drama over the course of an up-and-down season. There were some issues again Saturday, but Allie Falesto and Sierra Linnin shot down multiple White Plains comebacks, propelling the Falcons to a 77-72 victory in a Section 1 Class AA quarterfinal.
It’s not supposed to be easy.
“We’ve been in games like this all season and kind of have the upper hand in that we have a lot of experience in situations like this,” Linnin said. “We knew it was important to keep it calm and not let the pressure bother us.”
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An impressive 22-4 run to close a hectic third quarter gave Magnus a 61-43 lead.
The game was a long way from over.
Aliya McIver got inside the defense and dropped the ball off to Anneliese Reggio for a layup that got the Tigers within 69-63 with 2:10 to play.
Turnovers were getting more and more costly.
“I’ve seen that before,” Falcons coach Pat Buckley said. “We had some big buckets, some timely buckets that deflated White Plains just a little bit and gave us some breathing room.”
Falesto ended the White Plains run with a hanging jumper in the lane.
Capri DeMara got the Tigers within 71-67 a short time later, but Linnin calmly delivered again to protect the lead.
“We prepared all week for the pressure,” the Le Moyne recruit said. “We weren’t going to let it bother us. We’ve played a really tough schedule and it’s left us calm and composed. Our key for the whole entire game was just be strong with the ball. We were fine as long as we played tough. We knew they were going to be physical with us, so we had to be physical with them.”
Next up is top-seeded Ursuline, a very familiar opponent.
“In practice we’re going to prepare hard again,” Falesto said. “Ursuline is a good team and we know we have to come out strong against them and play our game.”
Turning point
Karly Fischer gave Magnus a 39-31 lead two minutes into the third, but the score was knotted when McIver set up DeMara for a 3 with 4:43 to go in the quarter. There were some controversial whistles throughout and when Tigers coach Benj Carter reacted to a foul call by skipping down the sideline away from an official at the opposite end of the court, he received a bench technical.
Next came a string of free throws from Danielle Lamond and Linnin, then Fischer powered in for a bucket on the resulting possession. The Tigers were in an 18-point hole before they began their next uphill climb.
“They’re learning to keep their composure,” Carter said. “My thing is you have to have a winner’s attitude where even when you’re down, you’re not down. You have to read what’s going on and fight through adversity. That’s why I push them on minor things so when the big moment comes, they’re ready and understand what’s going on. They kept their composure today and that’s what got us back in the game.”
Player of the game
Linnin raised her level of play a month ago and continues to make big play after big play.
“She gives us a lot of confidence,” Falesto said.
Linnin finished with 30 points, four rebounds and four assists. She hit four times from well beyond the arc and went 6 for 6 from the line.
“The game plan was to keep a body on her and be in her vicinity wherever she went,” Carter said. “She is a shooter. I told my girls she probably takes 10,000 shots a day in the offseason because her form is pretty. She is a difference-maker. We did a good job containing their big (Fischer) but (Linnin) is solid. We lost her a lot. You can’t give her space and she hit some big shots.”
By the numbers
No. 5 Albertus Magnus (13-9): Falesto added 24 points, hitting four times from 3-point range. … Fischer had 13 points and five rebounds before she fouled out. … Lamond went 6 for 6 from the foul line, finishing with six points.
No. 4 White Plains (14-6): DeMara had 19 points on six 3s and one free throw. … Layne added 18 points and six rebounds. … Ineivi Plata finished with 16 points. … McIver delivered 15 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals. … Reggio had four points, four rebounds and three assists.
Quotable
“We welcome the adversity,” Buckley said. “We’ve had some ugly moments and lost. We’ve had some good moments where we stuck it out. I think today was a bit of a payoff.”
Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer, boys lacrosse, girls basketball and golf for The Journal News/lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.