Pirates stun Friars; Trinity survives

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:04PM

A happy Ezra PridGeon said that Ricquia Jones was the difference for his Proviso East girls.

After a near-disastrous first 16 minutes, some long-distance shooting from 5-3 Jones helped the Pirates get their groove and Proviso East rallied to upset No. 7 Fenwick 56-44 in the first semifinal of the York Sectional Tuesday night in Elmhurst.

"This means everything to me," Jones said. "It seems like every time we play them, we lose." The Friars (26-5) took the regular-season matchup in November.

But a basket by Illinois-bound Ivory Crawford (14 points) with 3:13 remaining broke a tie at 42 and started a decisive 12-0 tear for the No. 9 Pirates (30-2). Jasmine Jordan, who led Proviso with 19 points, scored six in the run and Jones (12) and Stacey Welch each had two.

"We weren't patient and we we weren't attacking the zone on offense to get the shots we needed," PridGeon said. "Then we picked up our defensive intensity and Jones hit some clutch three-pointers to get us back in the game."

"This game means everything," Crawford said. "The first half means nothing because you never know until the end of the game. At the end of the third quarter, we felt things were turning our way."

After Proviso East basket by Jordan, the Friars scored six unanswered points on a three-pointer from Kyra Navarette, a free throw by Meredith Boardman and a Sarah Williams basket. After free throw by Proviso's Crawford, the Friars got baskets by Hannah Ballard and a breakaway layup from Williams to go up 10-3.

The Pirates cut the deficit to 14-10 in the second quarter, but two free throws by Williams (14 points) and a three-pointer and a free throw by Kathleen Roche made it 20-10. Fenwick took a 24-15 lead to the break.

"We were holding on, but once they had the lead, they made us come out of our zone," said Fenwick coach Dave Power, whose first job coaching high school girls basketball was as a Proviso East assistant. "Proviso East beat a very good Fenwick team. Once we had to start chasing, it became a tough matchup. I still look at this as a very successful season that just didn't last as long as we would have liked."

Trinity 62, Bartlett 54: Trinity got the jump on Bartlett and punched a ticket to Thursday's sectional final.

The Blazers used a 10-point first-quarter burst to take control and then hung on after a late Bartlett charge.

No. 8 Trinity (28-4) will play Proviso East for the sectional title. Trinity beat Proviso East 64-60 at the Suburban Holiday Showcase in December.

Leading 5-4, the Blazers used a 10-0 run, with eight points from Alyssa Dengler, to build a lead that grew to 24-7 late in the first quarter before No. 6 Bartlett got two three-pointers from Haley Videckis.

Up 12 at the half, Trinity built its lead to 47-29 before Bartlett started its comeback.

First, a 14-4 run by the Hawks cut the lead to 51-43, Bartlett kept the pressure on and got within 57-54 with just over a minute to play on a basket by Janessa Baker. But two free throws each from Taylor Nazon and Divinity Brown and one by junior Megan Podkowa (16 points, 10 rebounds), who was playing with four fouls down the stretch, iced it.

Nazon and TaRicka Linzy both scored 14 for Trinity and Dengler had 10, all in the first quarter.

Jacki Gulczynski scored 18 and Baker 10 for Bartlett.

"We've played 15 of the top 25 teams and our strength of schedule was the difference," Trinity coach Ed Stritzel said. "We've seen all sorts of environments and the difference was our depth. Dengler has been our best defender, but to get those points from her and those shots [two three-pointers] really got us going. We're thankful, but we still have more we want to do.

"I am convinced that it is going to take a real good team to beat us. And there aren't many players that I am aware of playing any better right now than Megan Podkowa."

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