St. Vincent-St. Mary girls basketball defeats Archbishop Hoban 53-36 in front of an energized crowd

AKRON, Ohio – For the second straight night, there was an electricity in the air at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s LeBron James Arena on Wednesday.

After fans packed the arena to watch the STVM boys defeat Archbishop Hoban 50-44 on Tuesday, Wednesday they filled the seats as the same two schools did battle in girls basketball. And for the first time since the 2013-14 season, it was STVM (13-4) who came out on top with a 53-36 win.

The Fighting Irish responded in front of their home fans by getting out to an early lead and never really looking back. A basket by Chenoa Moss midway through the first quarter gave STVM a 6-4 lead and Hoban never caught up after that.

After leading by 12 at the half, STVM scored the first five points of the third quarter on a layup by Jazmin Torres, a 15-foot jumper by Erica King and a free throw by Adrena Gordon to stretch the lead to 17 at 31-14.

“First quarters and third quarters are always important,” STVM head coach Carley Whitney said. “We emphasize the first three minutes of every quarter. It was nice to see them execute that.”

What STVM also executed was defense.

Hoban (11-8) made just eight field goals in the game, and one of those came in the final seconds with the game out of reach and the backups on the floor for STVM. While they were limiting the Knights’ field goals, the Fighting Irish were also creating turnovers and causing havoc for the Hoban ball handlers.

“We have some girls who can really sit down and guard somebody, which is nice in the half court,” Whitney said. “They can use their length and athleticism to create havoc. There is always somebody near you.”

STVM relies on a deep bench, which allows the Fighting Irish to continuously bring the defensive pressure. On any given night, STVM can go 10, 11 or even 12 players deep without drop off.

“It is a blessing to be able to look at your bench and have options,” Whitney said. “Kids that can all play at a high level, that you don’t drop or miss anything when you sub. It’s a luxury and I don’t take that for granted at all.”

That luxury plays out on the defensive end especially, where Whitney feels like they can create different levels of defense to harass the opponent all game long. With players like King, Torres, Ka’Miah Pryor and Kendal Batchik on the perimeter and a second line of defense behind them with players like Dyllan Metcalf, Tatum Smith, Saniiya Gray, Moss and Gordon, STVM has the pieces to sub in and out while also playing defense at a high level.

“(Erica), KP, Jazmin, Kendal, they do a really good job of navigating ball handlers, trying to keep them outside and applying pressure,” Whitney said. “Then you have players like Dyllan, Tatum, Saniiya, Chenoa, Adrena that are the next level of the defensive end. It is something that we talk about, it is an expectation.

“That’s the benefit of having a deep bench, having girls you can rotate in and out. I have the luxury of the rotating door. If someone is in foul trouble, we can make a sub. If someone is tired, we can make a sub.”

One of the other luxuries of a deep rotation is that STVM doesn’t have to rely on just one or two players to score.

In Tuesday’s win, Batchik led the way with 10 points, while Smith (9), Torres (8), Pryor (7), King (6), Metcalf (5), Moss (4) and Gordon (4) all got on the board.

As for playing against a rival in a charged-up environment, Whitney didn’t feel a need this week to address that with her team.

“I haven’t talked about it, we have just talk about preparing,” Whitney said. “This year we are really one game at a time, I don’t think you need to put any more emotion into that game than what is already exciting.”

With this win over Hoban, Whitney can cross off another item on the career checklist. After what she called “knock-down, drag-em outs” against Hoban in her career, this is the first time she has been able to celebrate a win over the crosstown rival. But at the end of the day, Whitney is more worried about long-term goal that singular victories.

“It’s not about me,” Whitney said. “As happy as I am to win, I never really talked about the importance of me getting my first Hoban win. I am humbled and I am honored to have it but at the same time we have a bigger goal and that is to make a playoff run and nights like this are going to prepare us for that.”

Part of that preparation is playing in an atmosphere like the teams played in on Wednesday night. For Whitney, she would like to see it more often, as it rivaled that of a late round tournament game.

“It’s nice to have these types of games before the playoffs,” Whitney said. “You can’t recreate this environment, this is like a district final environment, a regional final environment. It’s nice to have that type of game, it’s nice to have it at home, it’s nice to see the stands full. It’s nice to have back-to-back nights of comradery and school support.

“It’s what the girls deserve, really. It’s nice to see all these people come and see two schools battle it out in Akron. It should be like that every night.”