Loyola freshmen Katherine Ross had 12 points and sparked a third quarter run. (Denis Gostev)
Christina DiTolla jumping into Grace Conrad’s arms in celebration had become an end-of-season tradition. The two Loyola seniors got to end their stellar careers at the school that way after winning their third straight varsity NYCAL girls basketball tournament title and fourth overall.
“I think we have done it every year,” DiTolla said. “It’s kind of like our little tradition. To put up four fingers is unreal.”
The sharpshooting guard scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and dished out seven assists in the second-seeded Knights’ 53-40 win over No.1 Columbia Prep at CCNY on Friday. Freshman Katherine Ross scored 12 points, including five straight during a game-changing run to open the third quarter. Classmate Hanna May added 11 points. Penny Savryn paced the Lions with a game-high 21 points, including five treys.
“You could see by the way they reacted at the final buzzer,” Loyola coach David Palladino said when asked what the win meant to his kids. “They were just as much jumping around and hugging as when they were sophomores and won it the first time.”
The game was Loyola’s final of the season as only the league’s regular-season winner – Columbia Prep — earns a bid in next week’s NYSAISAA Class C tournament. The Knights (19-5) split with the Lions during the regular season, but lost to third-seeded Calhoun to see its straight of consecutive crowns snapped. The Lions (16-7) visit NYSAISAA champion Staten Island Academy in a play-in game Jan. 29 at 5 p.m.
“If you prove yourself in the regular season and finish first, I think that’s fair,” Palladino said.
Columbia Prep played the game without star forward Carly Doyle, who had to get emergency surgery on her leg Wednesday night after being injured in the opening minute of the team’s semifinal win over Trevor Day. The Lions were within just 30-27 at the half on the strength of Savryn lighting things up from the outside.
“I thought we played well,” Lions coach Andy Chappell said. “I thought without Carly it was a good performance.”
Loyola showed off its future in the form of Ross and May after halftime as they combined to score nine points during an 11-2 run to start the third quarter. Ross, who Palladino said has been more consistent in the last three weeks, was aggressive in the paint. She had a bucket and the foul that send DiTolla jumping for joy with elation during the spurt that put Loyola up 43-29 with 5:00 left in the third.
“I just knew that my team was counting on me,” said Ross. “I was happy to push and win it.”
Neither team shot the ball well in the fourth giving Columbia Prep a chance to rally, but Savryn and Alanna Aurelien (13 points) both went cold. Loyola had Erika Moffa follow her in the second half and it wore her down and made her take contested shots.
Despite not getting to play in the NYSAISAA tournament, DiTolla felt this was a fitting end to the careers of her and her fellow seniors.
Champions again.
“For four years to go back-to-back-to back-to-back is just amazing,” DiTolla said. “It’s just a great feeling. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
