Cardinal Spellman had the lead and the contest’s momentum. It had turned a six-point deficit into a three-point advantage behind the all-around play of star senior Troi Melton.
Then Melton picked up her fourth foul.
Momentum gone.
The Boston University-bound wing didn’t come out, but she wasn’t herself, managing just two points – at the final horn – in a lackluster fourth quarter. Nichols (Buffalo) took advantage, pulling away for a 68-58 victory in the CHSAA Class A state girls basketball semifinals at St. John Villa on Staten Island after starting the final quarter on a 14-2 run.
“The fourth quarter I just think we were conscious of where [Melton] was on the court,” said Nichols senior forward Sloane Walton, who poured in a game-high 31 points, 21 after halftime. “She was out of her element when she realized she had four fouls. She was kind of getting scared, so we just went at her. She was tentative in what she was going to do.”
The Vikings face Archbishop Molloy, which ousted Holy Trinity, 55-44, Sunday at Holy Trinity on Long Island at 2 p.m.
“It hurts, but I think it would hurt more if we lost in the next game,” said Melton, who scored 15 points. Laura McCaffrey added 14 points and Onia Webb and Amber Griffin had 10 for the Pilots (23-7).
Spellman managed just nine points in the fourth quarter while Nichols exploded for 22. While Melton was hesitant while Vikings forwards Walton and Taylor Rooks were aggressive. The two started the frame with back-to-back 3-pointers, Rooks hit four straight free throws after being fouled on drives and Walton sank a baseline jumper to cap the furious spurt and give Nichols (21-6) a 60-51 lead with 3:30 remaining. Spellman never got closer than six the rest of the way as it misfired from the perimeter.
“It would’ve been a difference game if shots that had been falling for us all year were falling today and they just weren’t,” Spellman coach Jane Morris said. “You can’t control that. To me, basketball is a simple game. Their shots were going and ours weren’t. It wasn’t like they were stealing the ball from us or they outplayed us.”
It was a disheartening end to a wildly success season for Spellman, which cruised to yet another CHSAA Bronx/Westchester regular-season title After finishing third in the CHSAA Archdiocesan playoffs, the Pilots hoped to at least reach the ‘A’ final and to possibly get upstate for the first time since 1999. Entering the fourth quarter, their chances seemed good. Eight minutes later, they weren’t.
“Extremely disappointing, but these girls had a great year, they played very hard, we traveled a lot to try and play a competitive schedule,” Morris said. “I’m very proud of them.”
