St. Mary's falls in CHSAA Class AA state final
Kayla Solomon of St. Mary's drives to the hoop in the first quarter against Nazareth in the state CHSAA Class AA girls basketball final at Fordham on Saturday. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
St. Mary’s girls basketball didn’t leave Fordham University Saturday night with the result it wanted, but the Gaels should leave with the belief they left everything on the court.
That was absolutely the case in a physical CHSAA Class AA state final at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gymnasium, where St. Mary’s fell, 51-47, to Nazareth.
Junior Kayla Solomon led St. Mary’s with 17 points, scoring 11 in the first half while assisting on two of St. Mary’s five other baskets over the first two quarters.
Still, the game sat tied, 21-21, at halftime in a match that saw eight first-half lead changes and seven second-half lead changes.
“I have two seniors that I’m really close with, so I really wanted to put my all on the court for them,” Solomon said. “It shows that we all play hard together and we all came to win together. “Playing to the final buzzer was our mindset today, to not give up.”
The growth between last year and this year was enormous, coach Kevin White said.
“I’m disappointed for them now, because I don’t think we played our best game,” White said. “I really don’t think we got into who we are the whole game.”
Junior Tiana Thompson grabbed four offensive rebounds in the game, consistently hustling her way to the ball despite Nazareth’s advantage in size.
Thompson finished with 10 points and six rebounds, which included a clean up-and-under layup in the second quarter and an impressive finish through contact in the final minutes of the third quarter.
“We’re a championship-level team,” Thompson said. “We deserve it. Being a part of this team is great, our chemistry is great. “The whole season we hustled, trying to make a statement and a name for ourselves especially after last year since we fell short then too.”
No team led by more than five points, with the lead tied at nine different points throughout the game.
But to highlight one Gaels’ toughness feels like a disservice to the rest, including junior Destiny Robinson, who battled all night against the strength of Nazareth’s Makylah Moore and Arly Zapata.
Robinson finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive glass.
Junior Scarlet Cubero led all players with five assists despite missing much of the first-half due to foul trouble.
The game went to the final whistle, with neither team leaving anything behind but sweat.
St. Mary’s roster consists of 10 players, with all but two returning next winter as the Gaels end their season with a 25-2 record.
