Wednesday night at home against WCAC rival O’Connell, Bishop Ireton opened the scoring with Tanah Gorman tipping the ball to senior guard Abigail Cooch, who promptly went in for a quick layup.
Then, after her team scored 38 more points in the first half, Gorman began the second half by finding Cooch open in the corner. The senior drilled a three-pointer, and Ireton’s potent offense was again off and running.
But it wasn’t, and isn’t, about offense for Bishop Ireton, which defeated the Knights 82-56 in the VISAA Division I quarterfinal. If the Cardinals are to advance and get past St. Anne’s Belfield and 15-time defending champion Paul VI to win a state title, it’s about defense.
“Absolutely. Absolutely,” said Head Coach Kesha Walton when asked if her team’s performance Wednesday was good enough to get her team past the likes of Belfield and PVI. “There’s a couple things that we need to focus on. Playing the scoreboard and better defense in the second half.”
“Yeah,” said Cooch when asked the same question. “We gotta clean it up on the defensive side a little bit, but other than that we definitely can beat STAB and PVI.”
That remains to be seen, but the Cardinals certainly got it done against an under-manned but scrappy O’Connell team. The Knights were missing frontcourt standouts Keira Scott and Sophia Carlisle, and Ireton punished them for it, scoring lots of points in the paint and out-rebounding the visitors 44-17.
Nine players scored for the Cardinals (16-14), with sophomore standout Nyla Brooks leading the way with 21 points, most coming in the second half. Junior Saniyah King had 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Sophomore Amirah Anderson added 14 points and Cooch 11.
The only lapse, as mentioned, was on defensive end. The Cardinals limited the Knights to 10 points in each of the first two quarters, but gave up 10 points in the first 2:30 of the third quarter. Walton wasn’t pleased, calling a time out.
“Our goal was limiting them to 10 points a quarter,” she said. We did that in the first half, and then we thought the game was over. And then we gave up 19 and 17. That is unacceptable, so they will pay tomorrow in practice to help them wake up and prepare for Friday.”
Friday the Cardinals will clash with STAB in Richmond, which eliminated the Cardinals last year 72-65 in the semis. Then, if Ireton can win, it could be another clash with PVI, which just defeated the Cards in the WCAC Tournament on a buzzer-beater.
Ireton may have a hard practice tomorrow to pay for its defensive lapses, but it is clear Cooch is well aware of what will be the key to advance.
“Defense and rebounding,” the Denison University signee said.
Meanwhile, the Knights’ season ended. Chock full of young talent, the Knights got some great wins on the season, such as against defending VHSL Class 6 Champion Madison. However, O’Connell (12-16) was beset by inconsistency and injuries throughout the season.
Freshman Dru Carlton led the way for them with 13 points, while sophomore Daniya Brown added 11 off the bench.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| IRETON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| ANDERSON | 5-11 | 3-4 | 14 | 11 | 4 | |
| BROOKS | 10-18 | 0-0 | 21 | 8 | 1 | |
| KING | 6-11 | 0-0 | 13 | 8 | 7 | |
| GORMAN | 2-5 | 1-2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| COOCH | 4-4 | 1-1 | 11 | 2 | 0 | |
| Washington | 1-6 | 1-2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| Ashton | 3-10 | 4-6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | |
| Wilson | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ebron | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Lanier | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Baldino | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 33-70 | 10-15 | 82 | 44 | 17 | |
| Threes: Cooch 2-2, Washington 1-2, Anderson 1-2, King 1-2, Brooks 1-5, Ashton 0-1 | ||||||
| O’CONNELL | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| SMITH | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| MAYORGA | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| MCINTYRE | 4-10 | 0-0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | |
| Dru CARLTON | 4-14 | 2-2 | 13 | 4 | 1 | |
| Denver CARLTON | 4-6 | 0-0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | |
| Parker | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| Manning | 4-4 | 1-3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| Brown | 4-7 | 2-2 | 11 | 3 | 1 | |
| Garvert | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| #30 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wootten | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 20-50 | 9-13 | 56 | 17 | 9 | |
| Threes: Dru Carlton 3-11, Denver Carlton 2-3, Brown 1-1, McIntyre 1-5, Mayorga 0-1, Parker 0-1 | ||||||