Mary Louis learned a valuable lesson last week when it was run out of the gym by Nazareth. The Hilltoppers are one of the fastest teams in New York City with a triumvirate of excellent guards. But sometimes – OK, most times – they’re better off moving at a slower pace.
“They’re learning,” TMLA coach Kevin White said. “There’s a couple of them that aren’t used to playing that way. I’m trying to get them to understand tempo, when to push it, when to slow it down. Because you can’t run 900 miles an hour the whole time.”
Mary Louis showed flashes of its more refined offense in a 62-45 win over St. Francis Prep in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball Sunday in Fresh Meadows. The Hilltoppers (11-3, 5-3 B/Q) moved the ball and moved well without the ball early, opening up a 21-8 lead in the second quarter. They let down after that before turning it on again in the fourth, leading by as much as 62-40 with 33 seconds left.
“It was kind of an up and down game,” Mary Louis star senior Karin Robinson said. “We played in spurts, which is kind of a bad thing, because when we face like a Nazareth or Christ the King they’re gonna kill us. But I thought if we came out the way we did in the fourth quarter, pressuring them, playing aggressive we have a shot at beating Naz or King.”
The George Mason-bound Robinson led the way with 16 points, sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei had all of her 12 points in the first half and junior guard Reana Mohamed had 10 points. Shatira Hamlet had nine points and Adelphia-bound Jenna Halaby had eight for St. Francis Prep (5-9, 1-5), which got within 36-33 on a free throw by Meghan Erdman with 2:03 left in the third quarter, but then TMLA put the game out of reach with a backbreaking, 15-2 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters.
Robinson started it off with a 3-pointer in the corner on a nice pass from sophomore sharpshooter Kristen Podlovits (eight points) and Mohamed followed with a short jumper off a Nwajei assist. Almost every field goal during that stretch was setup with passing.
“We just had to learn patience, because all of us like to go fast,” Nwajei said. “Patience is everything.”
The word “patience” was uttered umpteen times by Nwajei and Robinson in postgame interviews. It’s clear White’s message is starting to get through. Mary Louis got to see its discipline in action in a rout of Bishop Ford on Wednesday and it seems like the Hilltoppers are sold.
“I think we’re most effective when we’re patient,” Robinson said. “When we’re patient, anything can happen. A prime example of us being patient is the Ford game. That’s results.”
Mary Louis wasn’t patient last week against Nazareth – the Hilltoppers were the complete opposite, playing at the Lady Kingsmen’s breakneck pace. Perhaps that game will mark a new direction of sorts for this talented group.
“The Bishop Ford game I thought we played with a lot of patience on offense and ran our stuff,” White said. “And that’s what I’m trying to get them to do. If we’re patient, take care of the basketball and run our offense, we can be effective.”
