Girls basketball: Foul trouble sinks St. Bede against Annawan

PERU – For three quarters St. Bede went toe to toe with the No. 4-ranked team in Class 1A, but foul trouble and a huge third quarter from Annawan propelled the Bravettes to a 66-52 victory during final round of pool play at the Lady Bruins Christmas Classic Wednesday afternoon.

St. Bede stormed out of the gate in the opening eight minutes controlling the boards as a putback from Ali Bosnich and two more by Ashlyn Ehm to go along with a steal and layup from Lily Bosnich gave St. Bede a 8-1 early lead.

The lead grew from there as Ali Bosnich had a beautiful bounce pass to Ehm for the bucket and although she missed the free throw, Ella Hermes got the offensive board and found Bosnich, who hit 1 of 2 at the line and made it 11-3.

With the score in favor of the Bruins, the foul trouble started to mount and would later come back into play.

Hermes drained a 3-pointer and extended the lead to 14-5 and after Clara VanOpdorp rattled a long distance shot around, a great drive and scoop shot by Ali Bosnich, who then got a steal and layup, pushed the lead to 18-10.

Moments after that it was Ehm who looked ahead and found Ali Bosnich once again for the fast break layup and a 20-10 advantage.

“I couldn’t have been happier with how we started the game,” St. Bede coach Stephanie Mickley said. “We were strong with the ball and our bigs down low took advantage of plays and were just strong with their decision making.”

Annawan finished the quarter strong though as VanOpdorp hit a long 3-pointer and then Kaylee Celus got the steal and basket to make it a 20-15 St. Bede lead heading into the second quarter, but Lily Bosnich and Ehm each had two fouls.

Zoey Vance hit 1 of 2 from the line and then Elaina Manuel hit a corner 3-pointer that capped off a 9-0 Annawan run.

Moments later, Hermes hit a much needed 3-pointer for St. Bede, but a steal and layup from VanOpdorp tied the game at 27.

Ehm then picked up a fast break layup for St. Bede to give it a 31-29 lead heading into the break with four St. Bede players with at least two fouls each.

Lily Bosnich picked up her fourth foul early in the second half and Annawan was taking full advatage of the fouls piling up.

Manuel hit a pair of 3-pointers early and gave the Bravettes a 37-31 lead in a blink of an eye. Ali Bosnich picked up a layup on a pass from Ehm, but Annawan was starting a well traveled path to the foul line as the lead grew to 43-35.

VanOpdorp picked up an offensive rebound with the put back and the foul. After Annawan missed a free throw, Olivia Goodley hit the jumper and pushed the Annawan lead to 48-38.

Before the third quarter ended, Annawan again got the basket and one for a 51-39 lead heading into the fourth.

After a Vance layup over Ehm, Goodley drained the 3-pointer and converted the four-point play as she was fouled on the shot.

St. Bede also picked up a four-point play from Hermes and Ali Bosnich continued her solid game with another layup, but Annawan continued to hit its shots at the charity stripe.

“We have to learn not to reach so much,” Mickley said. “I thought we were in position, but reached a lot. I felt like the foul trouble really shifted the momentum, but giving up so many more free throw attempts than we had (38-19) was the difference in the game. We lost by 14, which is the exact number of free throws they made compared to us. If we stop reaching I feel this game goes down to the wire, so to go to battle against this team I couldn’t be prouder.”

For the game, St. Bede’s Ali Bosnich led with 19 while Hermes added 12 and Ehm 11. VanOpdorp led all scorers with 21 and Kayle Celus 11 and Manuel 10.

St. Bede returns to action Thursday for third place at 2:30 p.m. where it will face Fieldcrest while Annawan faces Serena for the title at 4 p.m.