PREP BASKETBALL 2016: St. Vincent girls hold on for impressive win over El Molino

Balanced scoring and some effective defense when it counted was enough for St. Vincent to hold off El Molino, 38-35, in a non-league girls contest at Yarborough Gym on Tuesday.

The Lady Mustangs could never completely pull away from the Lions in the final stanza, but a couple of free throws by Sully Henry and a basket underneath by Ali Fetter gave them a five-point lead with only 11 seconds to play.

“There is no such thing as a five-point play,” coach Art Walker told his girls in a hurried time out, “just let them have their way without fouling.”

As predicted, the Lions drove the length of the court for an uncontested lay-up, but the game was decided, and St. Vincent won its first regular season home game by a narrow three points.

Senior shooting guard Kristine Daniels knocked in a game-high 18 points for the visiting Lady Lions who fell to 1-5 in the young season. Daniels scored in every quarter to keep her club in threatening position all of the way.

El Molino grabbed a brief 12-8 lead in the second quarter on a couple of baskets by Daniels, but that was the biggest deficit the Mustangs faced all night.

Despite some foul problems by floor leader Clare Galten, the St. Vincent club managed to tighten its defense as the game headed to intermission. The Lady Mustangs turned from man defense to a zone which forced El Molino to shoot from greater distance.

“I’m not sure we are ready to play a good man defense quite yet,” explained Walker after the game. “We went to a zone to change things up and protect some of our defenders.”

A 3-point shot by Julia Murphy helped St. Vincent take a narrow 18-15 advantage to the locker room at halftime.

Nobody had a double-figure scoring night for the Mustangs, but five regulars posted six points or more. Fetter continued her early season improvement with a team-leading nine points to pace St. Vincent. Murphy scored all of her seven points in the first half.

Galten, Henry and McKenna Wilson-Kay all netted six points each to keep the Mustangs in the lead, although they failed to convert many driving shots underneath that could have opened up the game.

The Lions had troubles of their own from the foul line as they converted on only 6 of 19 from the charity stripe.

The narrow victory gives St. Vincent four wins in its first five games, but Walker was quick to point out that a loss to a Division 4 opponent in a tournament game in Sacramento was also good for his team. “Highlands had a player averaging double figures (17.8), and it made us approach the game a little harder.”

Against El Molino, Clare Galten turned in a solid effort with her creative passing and steady ball handling. The junior dished out four assists, including a wrap around bounce pass to Fetter for an easy lay-in.

Freshman guard Alex Saisi made a bid for more minutes with a good floor game that included two key steals.

St. Vincent will go right back to work against the same El Molino club on Thursday when it opens the Healdsburg Tournament. “You can count on some defensive adjustments in that one,” noted Walker.