Walther ousts St. Edward in 2 OTs
This one will sting St. Edward for a while.
Not because of the valiant comeback effort, but why it was needed.
The Green Wave went through horrific 4 of 23 shooting in the first half, falling behind by 10 points, before storming back in the second half to make Thursday’s Class 2A Westminster Christian sectional girls basketball championship game both thrilling and dramatic.
But in the end, Walther Lutheran had just enough to survive. The Broncos won their second straight sectional title by nipping the Green Wave 59-58 in double overtime in front of a raucous and partisan St. Edward crowd.
“We had some shots that didn’t fall and that sense of urgency didn’t hit us until the second half and the overtimes,” said seventh-year St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson, whose team finished 21-8, the most wins for a St. Edward team since the 199-901 Elite Eight team Dawson played on won 25.
Walther Lutheran (27-4) will take on Bishop McNamara for the second straight year in the supersectional Monday night at Willowbrook High School. The Broncos lost to Bishop Mac by 20 earlier this season.
“St. Ed’s make a heck of a comeback in the second half,” said a drained Walther coach Todd Fisher. “We knew they had weapons out there and Michelle does a great job with that team.”
After the Broncos methodically moved out to a 23-13 lead at halftime, St. Edward came alive. By the end of the third quarter St. Edward had cut the lead to 27-24 when Maddie Kerr hit a 3-pointer on a kick out from Alex Lee just before the buzzer.
The momentum was clearly on St. Edward’s side at that point and the Wave took their first lead since 4-3 when Enza Ranallo scored after a Kelly Tripicchio steal to make it 28-27 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
What ensued from there was classic back-and-forth state tournament madness.
Twice St. Edward had a 4-point lead in the fourth quarter but Walther battled back to make it a 39-39 game at the regulation buzzer.
In the first overtime the Broncos were up 46-41 when St. Edward found a burst of energy and roared back. Down 47-43, the Wave forced a second OT when Rena Ranallo scored to make it 47-45 with 24 seconds left. She then delivered a steal and junior Paige Gannon was fouled on an inbounds play with 11 seconds left. She calmly made both free throws and an off-balance shot by Walther’s Melanie Ransom missed at the buzzer.
But in the second overtime, St. Edward fell behind again and couldn’t catch up. The Broncos, who shot a miserable 11 of 36 from the free-throw line, opened up a 57-52 lead with 43 seconds left when Morgan Ransom made 1 of 2 with 43 seconds to go.
But St. Edward never said die all night, and Kerr buried her third 3-pointer of the night to make it 57-55 with 30 seconds left. But the Green Wave was forced to foul and Morgan Ransom again made 1 of 2 with 8.9 seconds to go, leaving Enza Ranallo’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to make up the final score.
“There were fundamental things we could have done better in the first half,” Dawson said. “Walther Lutheran’s ability to take the ball to the basket is tough to defend. They’re a tough team and I wish them well in the supers.”
The Wave was outrebounded 51-36 with 19 of Walther’s rebounds coming on the offensive end. St. Edward had 23 turnovers, Walther 26.
Senior Enza Ranallo led the Green Wave with 14 points in her final St. Edward game. She is the only graduating starter. Kerr and Gannon had 12 points each and junior Callie Johnson added 9.
“We were definitely very nervous to start the game,” said Johnson. “We knew it was going to be a tough game but at the end we played our hearts out and gave it our all. We just came up short. Our biggest problem was rebounding and being able to hang onto the ball.
“We lose Enza and that’s a big loss but we have everybody else back and some freshmen coming up that will really help us.”
Melanie Ransom had 15 points to lead Walther Lutheran. Isimeme Edeko added 14 and JaQuitta Walker had 11.