Parham's steal and basket spurs St. Anthony's
St. Anthony's Tyla Parham looks to defend. (Jan. 21, 2012) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Just when it appeared Sacred Heart might make a run and get back into the game against St. Anthony's, the Friars' defense made a game-changing play.
Jenna Pasquale hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter to bring Sacred Heart within nine points, but in a game where both teams struggled offensively, St. Anthony's was able to get some easy baskets.
After St. Anthony's gave the ball back to Sacred Heart, Tyla Parham got a steal at midcourt and scored on a fastbreak layup. The Friars got 10 points in that fashion and it helped in a 42-22 road win over Sacred Heart Saturday in CHSAA girls basketball.
St. Anthony's has won 25 consecutive regular season league games. The last loss came against Kellenberg on Feb. 9, 2010. Rebecca Musgrove scored 13 points Saturday, Parham scored eight and Symone Kelly added seven points.
"We're executing our defense well," Musgrove said. "Everyone is stepping in the right positions and we're getting steals. Our shots weren't falling. We knew once we got the steals we had to get out on the fast break and score."
Parham's steal and score gave St. Anthony's (11-4, 8-0) a 30-19 lead with 1:41 left in the third quarter. Jennifer Sixsmith scored on a turnaround jumper with two seconds left in the quarter to extend the Friars' lead to 32-20. Kelly forced a steal at midcourt and scored on a layup 14 seconds into the fourth quarter as did Musgrove with 2:25 left to make it 40-20.
"The defense always keeps us in it," Kelly said. "Our defense wins games. It gets us offense and we work on it all the time."
Sacred Heart (12-5, 4-4) had three field goals in the second half, including just one in the fourth quarter for its only points.
"The defensive pressure forced us to rush," Sacred Heart coach Dennis O'Brien said. "We didn't get into our offensive flow. We were rushing shots early. When we did get some open looks, it was one of those days we didn't score. They're very deep and very talented. That's why they are undefeated in the league."
While St. Anthony's is dominating the league, the Friars have lost two non-league games recently, falling to Archbishop Carroll and losing in the waning seconds to South Shore last Sunday, 45-44. Kelly, Musgrove, and Johanna Impellizeri have all missed time with injuries.
"When you miss a certain stint of the season, it takes a while to get back into game form," St. Anthony's coach Ken Parham said. "Players are on the court now and it's a matter of rounding back into shape. Our chemistry isn't there totally. We were playing well for a good part of the season and since the injuries we haven't caught that groove yet. We just need to get the chemistry going again."
