“It was a tough game,” said Irish coach Danielle Roe. “We made some adjustments and fought through some things. We knew it would be tough.”
Senior Serenity Castle scored 16 points and senior Mallory Mullen added 12 for the Irish, who finished 16-5.
Austy Miller scored a game-high 25 points for the Railroaders, who advanced to play second-seeded Covington in a D-IV district semifinal game on Saturday at Trotwood. The Buccaneers beat ninth-seeded Troy Christian 53-34.
The Irish led 9-2 to start the game, but the Railroaders stormed back to grab a 21-13 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Irish went on a 11-3 run to take a 24-22 lead on a putback by Mallory Mullen with three minutes remaining in the period.
“Once we settled down, we were able to go out and execute some things and took the lead and went on a run,” Roe said. “The big thing was to test our heart coming out of the third quarter. I knew it was going to be a game if we could get to the (34-point mark). We had some opportunities.”
With two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Irish grabbed a 32-31 lead on a bucket by Mullen, but Bradford’s Brooklyn Crickmore nailed a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 34-32.
With 1:15 remaining, Irish senior Meghan Foster nailed two free throws to tie the game at 34.
“We work on pressure free throws every day in practice,” Roe said. “I wasn’t nervous. Meghan may have been nervous, but I had faith in her knowing we do this every day in practice.”
Both teams had chances to win the game in the final minute, but neither could convert.
In the first overtime, Castle, an Otterbein commit, hit a free throw to tie the score at 40. Miller responded with a bucket to give Bradford a 42-40 lead. The Irish played the majority of the overtime without Mullen, who fouled out midway through the period.
The Irish got the ball on the sideline with 4.5 seconds remaining. Irish sophomore Jordyn Smoot inbounded the ball to Foster, who was double teamed by the Railroaders as she dribbled to the hoop. The senior passed the ball to streaking freshman Lili Roberts for a wide-open layup to tie the game at 42 and send it to a second overtime.
Double OT: Catholic Central 42, Bradford 42. Lili Roberts come up with a huge layup for the Irish to send it to Double OT. pic.twitter.com/Bd8GaYVPMW
— Michael Cooper (@ByMichaelCooper) February 16, 2022
“It was drawn up,” Roe said. “She was ready for the moment. We knew where the pressure was going to be, especially with Mullen out. We knew they were going to focus on our guards. Lili stepped up when it counted.”
Castle scored five points in double overtime, giving the Irish a 47-45 lead after hitting two free throws. After Miller tied the score on two free throws, Barhorst hit her second 3-pointer of the period to give the Railroaders the lead for good. Miller hit two free throws with 16.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“We had a couple good looks and they had a couple good looks,” Roe said. “Honestly, that was the whole game. It was about getting shots to fall. … At the end of the day, I’m proud of our kids. They deserve any type of postseason recognition they get because they worked for it when they could’ve quit.”
The Irish won the Ohio Heritage Conference South Division for the second straight season. The program will graduate three seniors — Castle, Foster and Mullen — who were four-year letterwinners for the Irish.
“They’re going to go far in whatever sport that they choose,” Roe said.
They’ll return several players from their rotation, including Smoot, Roberts, sophomore N’Kaya Stinnett and senior Emily DeWitt, who’ll seek to make it three straight OHC South Division titles.
“Every non-senior has been in big moments this year,” Roe said. “We’ve got some work to do. We’ll take a little bit of a break, but our job is to make sure we get out and compete again next year.”
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