Freshman duo drives Fontbonne over Kearney

February 20, 2015 Jim Dolan

Photo courtesy of Jim Dolan

Fontbonne 48 Bishop Kearney 45

Looking past their earlier 60-45 loss to the second place 7-3 Tigers, the fourth place Fontbonne varsity squad (5-5) approached this game to even their regular season record against their chief Brooklyn rivals on their home court.

Kearney opened the game to take a slight 8-6 edge in the first quarter until the Bonnies went on an 18-9 run in the second quarter. Led by Kate Marquardt and Breanne McDonald (11 points apiece), the freshman duo gave Fontbonne a 24-17 lead at the half.

Fontbonne maintained a 36-28 lead in the third quarter until Kearney challenged the Bonnies’ lead midway in the fourth quarter. The Tigers managed to pull within one point of Fontbonne as Tara O’Keefe (10 points) scored on a steal and Jen Kaye (nine points) added a basket to make the score 40-39 with four minutes left in the game.

Having shown that she had a hot hand in the first half, McDonald came off the bench to hit a three point shot that she immediately followed with a steal and a subsequent basket. Meaghan Glynn (nine points) then went for a driving lay up to give the Bonnies a much-needed eight point lead, 47-39 with 3:30 left in the game.

Down but not out, Kaye and O’Keefe brought the Tigers within two points (47-45) of Fontbonne right up to the remaining minute of the game. After Fontbonne’s Marquardt made her last foul shot with 37 seconds left on the clock, the Bonnie defense held together to deny the Tigers another basket for a hard-fought 48-45 win.

On the win over Kearney, Coach Stephen Oliver commented, “They played us hard tonight. But it was sure good to have our senior forwards back, Adrianna Boumoussa and Jill Nixon. We missed them for the last Kearney game.”

Notably, freshman Breanne McDonald stood out for Fontbonne late in the fourth quarter. On her performance, Coach Oliver said, “She put us over the top when we needed it. Breanne has become a great catch-and-shoot player for us.”

On the team as a whole Oliver stated, “We’re playing better defense, we’re boxing out better and finally getting those offensive rebounds.”

In the earlier JV game, the 7-2 Bonnies beat the fourth place (6-5) Tigers 44-35 to maintain third place in their division.