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Madonna fends off Oak Glen’s best effort

GOING UP — Madonna’s Kennedy Martin attempts a shot with Oak Glen’s Brittany Giorgini guarding on Wednesday. (Andrew Grimm)

NEW MANCHESTER — The Madonna girls basketball team, ranked No. 7 in Class A, was given a big test by young, feisty Oak Glen Wednesday night.

In the second half, though, the Blue Dons’ size advantage was too much, and coach Rodney Boniti’s group improved to 10-2 with a 43-33 victory.

“We didn’t really do much adjusting at halftime, other than trying to get the girls refocused and realigned on what we needed to do,” Boniti said. “My hat is off to (Oak Glen) coach (Scott) Wiley. He took us out of rythm for the first period and a half.

“We told our guards they needed to get more aggressive. Once we were able to get our guards to be more be more aggressive, we were able to move the ball better, and it created the passing lanes in the second half.

Trailing 17-10 with less than 1:30 to go in the second quarter, Jazzy Melnyk hit a layup. Then, Andrea Alimario came right back the other way after a turnover by the Golden Bears and sank a 3-pointer before the break to make it a two-point deficit.

That momentum carried over to the second half.

“To close it to 17-15 at halftime was huge,” Boniti said. “We told them at halftime that they gave you their best punch for 14 and a half minutes, and they are only up by two. I told them, ‘Now it’s our turn to give them our best punch and see what we can do.'”

Alimario took over in the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points of the period of her own to turn the deficit into an eight-point lead, while also pulling down half of her game-high 10 rebounds in the frame. In total, she scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the final 16 minutes.

“Andy struggled in the first half,” Boniti said. “She blew three or four defensive assignments, and she was a little rattled. She is a competitor. She is a senior leader.

“For Andy to come out in the second half and put the team on her back and show them what needed done, it was huge. That is what our seniors are expected to do.”

Melnyk collected half of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help put the game away after the Golden Bears (5-9) rallied to tie the score late in the third quarter. They trailed by two heading into the final eight minutes.

“We tried to switch it up a little bit by playing a 1-2-2 defense,” Wiley said. “We haven’t done that all year. Madonna is a good team, and they play together. Coach Boniti does a really good job. Our effort was there. I’m not disappointed at all.”

Oak Glen was able to compete for rebounds in the first half, with Madonna holding an 11-9 edge at the break. In the second half, though, it was a different story, and the final total ended up being a 34-22 advantage for the Blue Dons.

“With the height that they have, we knew eventually they were going to get some shots and some rebounds,” Wiley said. “We fought them off as best as we could.”

Senior standout Maggie Kovalcik had a quiet night for Oak Glen, but still led the way for the Golden Bears with 10 points, nine in the second half, and six rebounds.

Oak Glen is home tonight against Bellaire St. John’s.

The Blue Dons enter what Boniti called the toughest stretch of schedule in years for the girls team when it plays undefeated Indian Creek on the road tonight, before taking on No. 10 Clarksburg Notre Dame on Saturday and Catholic Central Monday.

“We have three powerhouse programs coming up,” he said. “The girls want to play the best in the valley and see what they are made of. We are right in the gauntlet and will see what happens.”

GAME NOTES

¯ Wednesday was Oak Glen’s annual “Coaches Against Cancer” night. A collection was taken up for the America Cancer Society, and the players on both teams warmed up in purple “Hoops for Hope” T-shirts.

“It is really important to me,” Wiley said. “I don’t know anybody that hasn’t been affected by cancer. I personally have been with my dad and my aunts. Any time we can raise awareness and funds to donate, we have got to do it. It’s good for the girls to be a part of this.”

Boniti was happy his team got to be a part of the festivities.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see the community behind it. Oak Glen always puts a nice crowd together, and it was wonderful to look up and see so many purple shirts.

“For the Oak Glen team to extend the offer for us to participate was nothing but a class act. We talked to the girls about these types of things off the court and its beneficial for them to be a part of it, no doubt.”

¯ The Blue Dons won the jayvee contest, 35-31. Tanessa Alatis led Madonna with nine points, while Sophie Arner scored 11 for Oak Glen.

(Grimm can be reached at agrimm@herladstaronline.com)

Madonna 43, Oak Glen 33

Madonna 8-7-13-15 — 43

Oak Glen 11-6-9-7 — 33

MADONNA (10-2): Boniti 2 0-0 4; Riccadonna 1 0-0 3; Backel 0 0-0 0; Staffalino 0 0-0 0; Melnyk 4 5-6 14; Alimario 5 5-6 17; Martin 2 1-4 5; Martinez 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 11-16 43.

OAK GLEN (5-9): Giorgini 2 0-0 4; Enochs 1 0-2 3; Kovalcik 3 4-6 10; Andrews 3 1-2 7; McNutt 1 0-0 2; McKay 2 1-1 5; Barganski 0 0-0 0; Kranis 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 6-11 33.

3-POINT GOALS: Madonna 3 (Riccadonna, Melnyk, Alimario); Oak Glen 1 (Enochs). ASSISTS: Madonna 11 (Boniti 5); Oak Glen 8 (McKay 3). REBOUNDS: Madonna 34 (Alimario 10); Oak Glen 22 (Kovalcik 6, Kranis 6). TURNOVERS: Madonna 24; Oak Glen 21.

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