Pirates fall short in title game
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published March 17, 2010

After a fast start, Rocky River senior Molly McNally got a lot of attention from the Walsh Jesuit defense in last Friday night’s Division II regional championship game at Ontario High School. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

With 2:32 to go in the first half, Rocky River sophomore Hannah McCue was getting double-teamed on the left wing. Somehow, she got a pass off to senior teammate Molly McNally, who was wide open at the top of the key.

McNally pulled the trigger immediately, nailing a 3-pointer.

That gave the Pirates a 21-20 lead over Walsh Jesuit. Unfortunately for McNally, McCue and Company, that lead would be their last of the game…and the season.

Walsh Jesuit responded with a 9-0 run and fought off a number of River rallies in the second half to come away with a 53-44 win and a Division II regional basketball championship last Friday night at Ontario High School. With the win, the Warriors advanced to this week’s state tournament in Columbus.

And despite the loss, the Pirates closed out the one of the best seasons in school history. It was, in fact, the best-ever tournament showing for the program as River finished at 21-5, one step away from the state’s final four.

“Every year is a learning process, and we’ll learn from this,” said River head coach Mike Murray, who was flanked by the teary-eyed duo of McNally and McCue in post-game interview.

“I thought there were times that we executed our game plan well,” Murray said. “There were a couple of stretches where we had problems. We couldn’t get a big enough lead so we could settle down, especially late in the first half.”

Up until that 2:32 mark, the Pirates had played the favored Warriors tough enough to have the lead most of the first half. McNally got things started with a steal for two points, then nailed her first trey of the game to give her team a 5-2 lead. The River senior followed up with a fast-break bucket and another 3-pointer, then sophomore Allyson Helleis got a steal for two.

At that point, River was looking good with a 12-6 lead. That’s when Walsh Jesuit started to pick up the pace.

A rebound for two by 6-1 senior Nneka Offodile and a driving jumper by sophomore Rachel Theriot made it a 12-10 game at the end of one quarter of play. Junior Maeve Kessler opened the second quarter with a jumper from the elbow to give the Pirates a 14-10 advantage, but the Offodile and Theriot each scored again to knot the game at 14.

A pair of McNally free throws and McCue’s first bucket of the game allowed River to maintain its lead at 18-16. A pair of Theriot free throws tied it, and another drive for two by the slender sophomore gave the Warriors their first lead of the game at 20-18. With the defensive pressure increasing, the McCue-McNally play made it 21-20.

McNally, under heavy defensive pressure, would not score again. Meanwhile, Offodile and Theriot continued their offensive onslaught.

After a tough first half, Rocky River sophomore Hannah McCue found her shooting touch in the second half in last Friday night’s regional championship game at Ontario.

Theriot drove again to give Walsh Jesuit the lead for good at 22-21. Offodile scored back-to-back buckets, then Theriot capped off the run with a 3-pointer to make it 29-21, Warriors. Senior Christin Van Atta stopped the bleeding with a score inside, and McNally came away with a big defensive play with a tip-away to end the first half. At 29-23, River was still in the game.

But in the third quarter, the Pirate offense found the going tough as the pace of the game quickened and the Warrior defense hounded River’s ball handlers. After a McCue free throw made it 29-24, the Pirates would go over four minutes without scoring. That allowed Walsh Jesuit to build its lead to 34-24.

But there was no quit in the River squad.

McCue scored River’s first field goal of the second half with 3:14 left in the third. She scored on a jumper, was fouled and converted the free throw to cut into the Warrior lead. Theriot answered with yet another driving jumper, but Kessler followed up with a conventional 3-point play of her own. Two Theriot free throws made it 38-30, but the Pirates were hanging tough despite making just two of 11 shot attempts in the quarter.

The Warriors, who were looking to avenge a loss in last year’s regional title game, all but put the game away in the first minutes of the fourth quarter.

A free throw and a basket off a steal made it 41-30, Walsh Jesuit. River squandered its next two possessions, committing a lane violation in a one-and-one situation and missing the front end of yet another. The Warriors’ Kara Goliat then made both ends of her bonus attempt, making it 43-30, her team’s biggest lead of the night, with 5:54 remaining.

Still, the Pirates would not fold.

River used a 6-0 run to make it 43-36, and with 1:23 left McCue drilled a long 3-pointer to get River within six at 47-41. Walsh Jesuit responded, however, breaking the River press for a score and getting two more Theriot freebies for a 51-41 lead with :23.8 remaining.

McCue’s last score – a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left – accounted for the final score.

McCue, who recently was named the Most Valuable Player in the West Shore Conference, led the Pirates with 16 points, 14 of those coming in the second half, and five assists. She also led her team with six rebounds, though the Pirates got beat on the boards, 31-19.

“We all said before the game that we would not go down without a fight,” said McCue, doing her best to fight through the emotions of the moment.

“I just kept that saying running through my head,” she said. “I wasn’t about to go down without giving it my all.”

To Murray’s right was McNally, who obviously got a lot of attention from the Warriors in the second half.

“We lost it a little, but we were able to get back into the game,” said the River senior, who finished her final high school game with 15 points. “But after I made some shots, they really didn’t let me have the ball much the rest of the game.”

McCue was to the point in her final comment before heading back into the locker room.

“The feeling I have right now…I never want to feel it again.”

Kessler contributed nine points, but there wasn’t much offense after that as River made 15 of 34 two-point shots and went just five of 12 from 3-point land. For the Warriors, Theriot led all scorers with 25 points, while Offodile chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds.

“I love these kids. They fought hard to the end,” Murray said. “At the end of the game, we made a run and the kids were still playing hard. Like I said, we’ll learn from this.”