Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons wins Class D state regional girls' basketball title

Man holding up a plaque — PHOTOGRAPHER: Stan Hudy

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons girls' basketball coach Pat Moran holds up the NYSPHSAA Class D regional championship final plaque after defeating Seton Catholic 37-30 Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College.

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TROY — The Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons girls’ basketball team will play another postseason game after coming up big in another fourth quarter.

In a Class D state regional final Saturday where points were hard to come by, the Golden Knights doubled up Seton Catholic in the last quarter while at the same time nearly matching their production from the first three frames in a 37-30 victory at Hudson Valley Community College.

The Golden Knights, from Section II, outscored the Knights from, Section VII (Plattsburgh area), 18-9 in that last quarter after falling behind 21-19, and earned their second regional title in five years as well as a state final four berth.

“At the end, we were thinking of Northville, when we were losing the whole game and came back on them,” Bishop Gibbons junior forward Autumn Davis said of her team’s 31-30 Section II semifinal win. “We knew it could go the other way. They were not going to go on a run.”

Seton Catholic did string five points to pull even at 28 in the fourth quarter, and Bishop Gibbons closed out the contest with a 9-2 spurt when Mia’Rose Wylie delivered five of her game-high 11 points and Davis and Angie Deitz both added a pair of free throws.

Deitz finished with nine points and was among seven different scorers for the Golden Knights, who next meet Oxford Academy (Section IV, 21-5) in a state semifinal game next Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at HVCC.

”They’re all heart,” Bishop Gibbons coach Pat Moran said of his team that was one-and-done in last year’s playoffs. “They’re something. They work hard. They practice. They just want it.”

“Everybody works hard. Everybody wants to win,” said Katie Alarcon, Bishop Gibbons’ only senior. “Last year, we were a losing team, and this year, we’re on top.”

Bishop Gibbons (15-7) outscored Northville in the last quarter of that semifinal game 12-3, and outscored Hartford 16-9 in the last quarter of its 58-48 Section II title-game win.

“We’re definitely a pull-away team,” said Wylie, who snared seven rebounds and shined defensively with three steals and two blocked shots. “We get in there, and if things are not going great, we’ve got to turn it up.”

Both teams played outstanding defense in a game that started with Bishop Gibbons shutting out Seton Catholic in the first quarter 7-0. In the second quarter, Seton Catholic gave up one basket while taking a 10-9 lead.

“We knew what we were getting into,” Wylie said. “Our defense is strong. Their defense is strong.”

Bishop Gibbons made a few more stops down the stretch, though, after a putback basket by Charlotte Hughes pulled Seton Catholic into a 28-28 tie with 2:44 left. The Knights only points from there were two free throws by Hughes with 16.2 seconds left that made it 34-30.

Davis sank two free throws after that, and Wylie added another to give the junior — who missed all last season with a knee injury — eight fourth-quarter points.

“Our defense is our strength,” Davis said. “On offense, the shots don’t always fall. Defense is how we win games.”

Seton Catholic (15-8) put its defensive focus on Wylie and Deitz, who combined for 41 points against Hartford, and while coach Keagan Briggs was satisfied in that department, he was not pleased with how many good looks the other Bishop Gibbons players got.

“They made shots by committee,” Briggs said. “No. 4 [Cora Jusino] hit a three in the first quarter. No. 1 [Alarcon] hit a 3. No. 10 [Davis] made two big shots.”

Davis scored seven points, including short jumpers in the third and fourth quarters, to go with her late free throws that made it 36-30, pulled down 10 rebounds and added two steals in her best playoff performance. Three of those rebounds came in ND-BG’s 9-2 run, two at the offensive end.

“Everyone has a job on the court,” Davis said. “I’m a jumper. Rebounds are something I work on.”

Abby Pearl managed nine points for Seton Catholic, but with Bishop Gibbons increasing its pressure on the standout junior, she had none after her steal and layup gave her team a 19-19 tie late in the tired quarter.

The game was also knotted at 10, 13 and 15 in that quarter, and at 21, 23 and 28 in the last period.

“That’s every game for us,” Moran said of the close nature of the regional match. “There were only one or two games where we hit cruise control. Even games that shouldn’t be a grind are, but they never stop believing.”

Wylie scored down low to break the 28-28 tie with 1:50 left and begin Bishop Gibbons’ successful close to the game. The junior scored again after handling a perfect inbounds bounce pass from Alanah Kelly, and Deitz hit two free throws to make it 34-28 with 25.3 seconds left.

In the end, Bishop Gibbons was 11 for 37 from the field (four 3s, 11 for 19 line) with 21 turnovers, and Seton Catholic was 11 for 25 from the field (one 3, 7 for 14 line) with 24 turnovers.

Oxford Academy advanced with a 70-44 regional win over Smithtown Christian (Section XI, 9-13) Saturday.

Seton Catholic 0 10 11 9 — 30

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 8 2 10 18 — 37

Seton Catholic scoring: Hughes 2-2-6, Whalen 0-2-2, Trombley 2-2-6, Conti 3-0-7, Pearl 4-1-9. Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons scoring: Alarcon 1-0-3, Deitz 2-4-9, Jusino 1-0-3, Davis 2-3-7, Wylie 4-2-11, M. Moran 0-1-1, Kelly 1-1-3. Team totals: Seton Catholic 11-7-30, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 11-11-37.