Girls Basketball: Third quarter powers St Joseph past Regina

Updated: December 1, 2011 9:50PM

St. Joseph coach Jim Maley did not spend a lot of time talking to his team at halftime of Thursday’s contest with visiting Regina Dominican, but his team must have gotten the point.

Nursing a 24-22 halftime lead, the No. 23 Chargers (5-1) outscored the Panthers 21-0 in the third quarter and cruised to a 48-28 victory in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division opener for both teams.

Briya Wilborn led St. Joseph with 13 points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds.

“It was kinda sorta not really pleasant at halftime,” Wilborn said. “We got a kick to do better, and that’s what we came out to do in the third quarter. That’s why we held them to not scoring and just played our game.

“We’re still trying to get into a groove,” she added. “It will get better with time. We just have to keep playing our game. As long as we keep coming out hard in the third quarter and play how we’re supposed to play, we’ll be fine.”

Donna Koerber added nine points and four rebounds and Kaci Beemon and Arriel Anderson each had eight points for St. Joseph, which is trying to improve on last year’s 22-10 record and Class 3A supersectional appearance.

“We sort of feel the pressure,” Wilborn said. “Kids at school always asking, ‘Are you going to be as good as last year? Are you going to make it as far? Are you going downstate?’ All that stuff. I’m tired of hearing that. I tell them, ‘Can I just play? Can I just do my homework?’”

Maley credited his team’s defense and Wilborn’s tenacity for igniting the 21-0 third-quarter run.

“I thought we had them kind of worn down a little bit at halftime,” Maley said. “So what I told them at halftime was that I’d like the game to be over in the first three minutes. I told them after the game I wish they’d do everything I tell them just like they did that.

“Wilborn does everything,” he added. “It’s very easy to teach youngsters how to play defense when you can point to Briya Wilborn. They see her flying all over the court and kind of get the idea. Deja Horn, a sophomore, is a great defender because she watched Briya last year when she was a freshman.”

Junior Erin Gavin scored eight points and Abigail Wagner added five points for Regina (2-4), which is trying to rebound after a 4-26 campaign last year.

“No place but up,” said first-year Regina coach Kerry Durham. “I was really proud coming in here. I know how athletic that team is and how great some of those players are. We were just trying to put last year behind us and teach our girls they can be competitive all year round.”

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