Hall knocks down free throws to hold off St. Bede

When Promise Giacometti stepped to the free throw line, she tried to block out her surroundings and go through her routine.

“I tried to shut out the screaming and yelling of the fans and just focus on the rim,” Giacometti said. “I do the same thing ever time before I shoot — two dribbles, two dribbles then line up and shoot it. I think that helps.”

Giacometti came through at the line Monday, knocking down 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter and 9-of-10 in the game to help the Hall girls basketball team hold off rival St. Bede 41-38 in both teams’ Three Rivers Conference East Division opener in Peru.

“It feels good,” Giacometti said. “We were nervous, but we did it.”

The Red Devils made 24-of-28 from the charity stripe in the game and sank 12-of-14 in the fourth quarter.

Mia Mautino and Jayden Jones each made a pair of free throws in the final 13.3 seconds for Hall, which had two players foul out in the fourth quarter, including starting point guard McKenna Christiansen.

“I’m definitely proud of our girls,” Hall coach T.J. Orlandi said. “We had two players foul out. McKenna is our leading scorer, runs the point and makes everything happen. I got a little nervous when she went out. The girls stepped up and kept fighting and knocking down free throws.

“We’ve been talking about being mentally tough and being able to go to the line and knock down free throws and winning games that way. It’s nice to see it happen.”

After Mautino’s free throws with 4.1 seconds left, the Bruins inbounded the ball and got it up court to Abbie George, who made four 3-pointers in the game and three in the fourth quarter.

George got a 3-point attempt off, but it missed to preserve the win for Hall (2-4).

“We had three shooters out here and we were hoping to get a look and she did,” St. Bede coach Tom Ptak said. “(George) did a great job. She likes to shoot and she’s a lefty. You have to like a left-hander shooting 3s. She came off the bench and did well for us.”

The game was tight early as it was tied at 8 after the first quarter before the Red Devils outscored St. Bede 12-6 in the second quarter to build a 20-14 halftime lead.

Giacometti scored six of her team-high 15 points in the second quarter.

“In the three games we lost in Seneca, we got off to slow starts,” Orlandi said. “I thought we came out focused and ready to go tonight. I think that’s an important thing. We came ready to play, got on the board early and took it from there.”

The Bruins slowly chipped away at Hall’s lead and took their first lead of the game at 25-24 on a bucket by Lia Bosnich with 56.3 seconds left in the third quarter.

“The first half was very disappointing,” Ptak said. “We didn’t come out with any zip. We switched to a man-to-man in the second half and played much better. We came to life, but we have some shooting issues. I told them the next two days we have to work on shooting. We had good looks, but we didn’t put them in.

“You have to give credit to Hall. They shot 24-of-28 from the free throw line. That wins games.”

Christiansen drained a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in the third to give Hall a 27-25 lead.

The Red Devils never trailed again, but the game was tied at 31 in the fourth before Giacometti split a pair of free throws to give Hall the lead for good with 3:39 left.

Along with Giacometti’s 15 points, Christiansen added 14.

George led St. Bede (1-5) with 15 points, while Bosnich added 10 points and 17 rebounds.