By Jerry Del Priore
St. Joseph head coach Mike Toro had a plan Tuesday night against Bishop Kearney in its CHSAA Class A game: contain star point guard Casey O’Shaughnessy, which they did, draping double teams on her all game long while limiting the Marine Park resident to 22 points — a low output for her — en route to 53-41 victory at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights.
“We just feel like she is a lot of their team,” Toro told BrooklynSportsWorld.com. “So, if we could kind of control her, I felt we’d be all right in the game.”
The Cougars (8-4) led Bishop Kearney (7-4) by a point (15-14) at the end of first period, with O’Shaughnessy draining nine points.
St. Joes distance itself a bit in the second quarter, ending the first half ahead, 27-20, over the Tigers.
The Cougars applied intense defensive pressure, forcing Bishop Kearney to make several ill advised passes and other costly turnovers, swelling their advantage to 39-26 in the third period.
While the Tigers had contributions from senior Kathleen Egan, who drilled three treys in the fourth quarter, it was a little too late for the visiting team, as St. Joes refused to relent.
Obviously hobbled by a minor ankle aliment sustained against the PSAL’s Millennium High School three weeks ago, Bishop Kearney head coach Rocco Sellitto said that other squad members are going to need to step up and produce when she’s heavily guarded in order to win, which they didn’t do.
“Teams are going to throw stuff at her,” Sellitto said of other clubs’ defensive plan against his standout player. “Bottom line is, yes, that is what’s going to happen in the season, and the other girls are going to need to do what they need to do to fix that.”
Ginnelle Phipps scored a team-high 13 points, while Cianna Roberts chipped in with eight and Akellia Bowens had seven for the Cougars. Farah Pitt dished out a squad-best seven assists and Madison Brady grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Egan poured in 11 points for the Tigers.
Bishop Kearney hosts St. Edmund Prep Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in a league contest, while the Cougars travel to Msgr. McClancy in East Elmhurst, Queens, for a 6:00 p.m. league tilt as well.
Watch video below as Bridget Rose and Casey O’Shaughnessy combined to thwart Cougar player drive, then O’Shaughnessy takes it to the hoop for two.
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