Bishop Mac continues run

Updated: March 23, 2011 2:20PM

Winning sectional championships has become a rite of passage for the Bishop McNamara girls basketball team.

The Fightin' Irish did it again Thursday night, winning their eighth consecutive sectional crown by beating host Seneca 52-39 in the Class 2A Seneca Sectional final.

"We knew we have the McNamara tradition," said McNamara guard Nicole Coglianese. "We just wanted to keep the tradition going and get the eighth straight title. We're pretty stoked about it."

Coglianese, a 5-6 senior who won't be playing in college, stoked the Irish in the second half, scoring 13 of her 15 points after intermission. Nine of those came during a 13-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters that gave McNamara (21-8) a 44-33 lead.

Seneca (22-10), which was seeking its first sectional title since 2002, had gone a 13-0 run of its own to go up 33-31 on Alanna Viken's 17-foot baseline jumper at the 2:46 mark of the third quarter.

Two crucial things then turned the contest in McNamara's favor. First, Seneca center Coley Baker picked up her third and fourth fouls and went to the bench. The Irish quickly took advantage as center Belinda Schaafsma converted two foul shots to tie the game.

Then McNamara went back to using the full-court trapping press that it used to take a 27-20 halftime lead. Seneca turned the ball over on eight of its next nine possessions and Coglianese, who made all seven of her shots from the floor as well as 1 of 2 free throws, scored four straight transition baskets.

"I think most of it just had to do with energy," said Coglianese, who had three steals, the last of which led to her layup that finished the scoring with 23 seconds left. "You were so stoked if your teammates got the ball and I was just wide open. Because I'm on the top [of the press], I just run out for the ball and I'm like, ‘Everyone get me the ball.'"

Seneca never got closer than seven points in the fourth quarter as the visitors were able to keep the pressure on, forcing 27 turnovers in all.

"We took it off because I though we were a little bit fatigued," McNamara coach Jeff Bennett said. "It looked to me like we needed to maybe save some energy for the fourth and it turned out to be right. Nicole Coglianese stepped up at time when normally it's been [Erika] Tatum or [Melissa] LaReau."

The 6-1 Schaafsma had her second consecutive big game. She scored 17 of her game-high 26 points in the first half, helped get Baker in foul trouble and also had eight rebounds and four steals.

Tatum had eight points and LaReau three for McNamara, which will play Walther Lutheran in Monday's Willowbrook Supersectional.

"Every group is different," Bennett said. "This is a group that's worked hard all year to give themselves an opportunity to be successful. We never took it lightly walking in here against what we thought was a really well-coached, tough Seneca team with a great environment to play basketball in.

"We sort of got some wobbly wheels in the third quarter. I just thought we stuck together, closed out the third and then did a good job of understanding we had a lead and the clock was running in the fourth."

Viken tallied 16 points and Ashley Terry had 13 for Seneca, which was done in by shooting just 4 of 16 from the free-throw line. Baker and Vanessa Albarran each had four points and eight rebounds before both fouled out in the fourth.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.