LA CROSSE — The Central High School girls basketball team took possession of the ball with 1 minutes, 26 seconds left in a tied game against an Aquinas team looking for its 112th consecutive MVC victory on Thursday.
The RiverHawks moved the ball in an attempt to find the winning shot, and one long pass made coach Quartell Roberson consider a timeout, but he resisted the urge. Just as he did, a second long pass was sent from the left wing toward the top of the key.
Aquinas junior Sammy Davis was presented with a chance to reinforce the Blugolds’ regular use of an interceptor drill during practice, and she jumped the passing lane for a steal that she took the other way for a layup and two-point lead with 57 seconds left.
While Aquinas did make other plays down the stretch after taking that lead, the Davis steal and hoop proved to be the timely play it needed to secure that 112th straight win with a 55-50 victory at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium.
“I knew they were going to Alahnna (Simpson) up top or in the post to Zaya (Whitaker),” Davis said. “I just wanted to be smart about it because we thought we knew where they were going with it.”
Aquinas (17-3, 10-0) clinched a share of the conference championship — its 11th in a row — by holding second-place Central (15-5, 7-2) to two points after Simpson tied the game at 48 on a 3-pointer with 3:01 left.
“We went from where were trying to trap to just playing standard (1-3-1 zone),” Aquinas coach Dave Donarski said of the key possession that resulted in the Davis steal — her fourth of the game. “But standard 1-3-1 rotations still call for intercepting opportunities if a mistake is made.
“I don’t know if that was a mistake, but we had good pressure on the ball, and she had to get rid of it.”
The Davis basket started a 7-0 run for the Blugolds, who used three free throws from sophomore Eva Willenbring and two from Davis in that final minute.
“I wish this close to calling a timeout after the first long pass and right before that second one,” Roberson said. “Part of it was I think we just tried to attack too much. We should have just held it out and kept it out of the wings.
“In hindsight, a timeout would have been good. It was just a long pass, and that’s what Sammy does. She reads those really well, and she goes and gets them.”
Davis scored 22 points and had eight of them after picking up her fourth foul as Central led 39-37 with 8:10 left. Donarski sat his star for a little more than 2 minutes before she finished it out without committing another foul.
The RiverHawks held their biggest lead at 43-37 with 5:56 left. Simpson gave the RiverHawks that lead by converting a pass from sophomore Ellie Gillitzer after a Gillitzer steal.
That was symbolic of the defense Central played the entire game. The RiverHawks made just about everything difficult for Aquinas, which has beaten them 19 straight times but barely pulled it off on Thursday.
“We are digging into winning our one-on-one matchups in space,” Roberson said. “I thought that helped us. We didn’t have to help as much because the girls were able to stay in front of them.
“They hurt us in the low post a couple times after some screen action, but other than that the defense was solid.”
Gillitzer finished with 15 points and Simpson 14 for Central, which trailed by as many as five points in the first half before consecutive baskets by Emmerson Keeney and Simpson gave it a 25-23 lead in the closing seconds of the first half. Two free throws by Emma Dobbins tied the score going into the break.
Roberson’s players’ ability to execute defensively made it tough for the Blugolds to find shots on the perimeter. Sophomore Olivia Passehl, who leads Aquinas with 52 3-pointers, had her first 3-point attempt blocked by Simpson and didn’t make one all night.
Aquinas made 2 of 11 3-point attempts, but one by Willenbring with 3:21 left gave the Blugolds their first lead since Chloe Ackerman tied the game at 33 with 12:58 remaining. Willenbring’s 3 gave Aquinas a 48-45 lead that was immediately vanquished when Simpson knocked down her 3-point attempt on the next possession.
Sophomore Ava Fernholz added nine points and Willenbring eight the Blugolds, who also had key offensive rebounds on missed free throws thanks to tipped balls by Dobbins and Alaina Elias with 1:34 and 1:32 remaining, respectively.
“I think the most impressive part of that the kids who needed to make plays for us did,” Donarski said. “And they did that in timely spots because Central had us on the ropes.”
