Rough second quarter dooms IC Catholic Prep
Claire Gibler and the IC Catholic Prep girls basketball team had about as forgettable of a second quarter as they had had all season Tuesday night.
In the Class 2A Christ the King sectional semifinal against Latin, the Knights mustered just 6 points, had 7 turnovers and were 2 of 9 from the field in the second quarter. Even worse for ICCP, the Romans opened the quarter on a 16-2 run and outscored them 24-6 in the period.
"We were not playing our basketball," Gibler said. "In our regional we played really well. We were passing the ball, we were transitioning really, really well in our regional and then I think we came here and we just didn't come to play today."
For as forgettable as the second quarter was, Gibler and the Knights mounted a second-half comeback, but ultimately the deficit proved too large. Latin beat ICCP 51-37 to advance to Thursday's sectional championship against Marshall.
"When the second quarter hit, we really kind of tired a little bit, got lazy, got settled and too comfortable in where we were instead of focusing on playing our game every single possession and not taking possessions off," junior Jaida Smith said.
Gibler rallied ICCP (11-19) at the half.
"We got into the locker room and basically as a senior I told everyone, 'None of the seniors want to go out the way were playing right now,'" Gibler said.
That lit a fire under the Knights. ICCP closed the third quarter on a 10-2 run and brought the deficit to 16 points.
"We were working as a team, we were believing in each other, we did all the little things, we did all the hustle plays, we just really wanted it," Smith said.
The Knights looked to be reaching a breakthrough in the second half. Sophie Zanoni hit a layup, ICCP got a pair of defensive stops and Gibler hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 32 seconds to play that made it a 48-36 game.
"I did feel like right at that moment I thought maybe, just maybe we could get a little fire under our butts and get going," Gibler said.
But Latin's defensive pressure, just like in the second quarter, got to ICCP. The Romans (25-3) held the Knights to 1 point the rest of the game.
"We like to press the entire game," Latin coach Max Rouse said. "Usually at some point, hopefully, we're able to get a run."
Gibler and ICCP are left to wonder what could have been.
"I think it's tough knowing that that's the last game that I get to play in my IC uniform and seven other seniors get to play for the last time," Gibler said. "I think that that's tough knowing that we don't get another chance, that this is the note we're going out on. Yeah, we played really good in the second half, but if we just would've carried it over in the first half we could've had this game."