Girls basketball: Fieldcrest bests Seneca, repeats as Falcon-Irish Tourney champs

FLANAGAN – It was one thing for the Fieldcrest girls basketball squad to have its cake and eat it too in the championship game of the Integrated Seed Falcon-Irish Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

But the Knights’ Ashlyn May just had to add a little frosting on that cake to make their 65-42 victory over Seneca just a bit sweeter.

Fieldcrest got 11 points from Kaitlyn White and eight from Riley Burton to seize a 23-16 lead after one quarter, then used tough defense over the next two quarters to separate itself from the Irish until May’s big moment.

With 3.4 seconds left in the third period, May sank a free throw for the 1,000th point of her standout career. The shot, making her the fourth player in Fieldcrest girls hoops history to reach that landmark, drew a timeout from coach Mitch Neally, an ovation from the entire crowd and a special ball with the milestone clearly marked.

May finished with 15 points, second to only White’s game-best 27, earning both a spot on the all-tournament team.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, because my brother got it when he was a senior, so it was always a goal to have my name up there with his,” May said of her sibling Derek May, Class of 2019. “It feels great to finally get to this point, that the hard work has paid off, but I still have a lot more I want to accomplish.

“And it feels so much better that it came in a win. I don’t think I would have wanted it if it had to come in a loss. This is a team sport, and I couldn’t have done it without my team. It’s better that we can all celebrate this night together.”

Burton’s eight points got the Knights going until a deuce by Vada Timmerman broke a 10-10 tie. White then tossed in nine of the next 11 Fieldcrest points to create a 23-14 edge.

Meanwhile, May contributed to the defensive effort on Seneca star Kennedy Hartwig. The Irish senior, who was also an all-tourney pick, got six points in the first quarter, but didn’t get her next field goal until the fourth stanza when her team trailed by 20. She ended up with 12.

Sophomore post Ella Sterling kept the Irish close, collecting 10 of her 15 points. However, six points from Burton helped the Knight stretch the margin to double digits before two May buckets and a trey by White took it to 38-24 at the break.

In the third quarter, Fieldcrest pulled away with defense – holding the Irish to 5-of-26 shooting in the middle two periods – plus a trio of 3s from White and nine points from May, including her milestone toss, to widen the gap to 58-34.

“Kaitlyn and Riley both had great games for us … and Ashlyn is a special player too, for sure,” Neally said. “This says a lot about how hard she’s worked to get to this point, and it’s great to see it come on a night that we win a championship, seeing her teammates cheer her on. She’d be the first to say she couldn’t have done it without her teammates, she’s so selfless.

“I’m so proud of her and all the girls.”

Seneca finished shooting 27.7% (15 of 54) and made just one of 14 3s.

“When those rankings come out in December, I can see Fieldcrest in the top three in the state,” Seneca coach Brian Holman said. “If they’re not, there must be a lot of good teams out there I don’t know about.

“But if we keep playing like we played tonight, we’re gonna be pretty good. Fieldcrest doesn’t give up 40 points very often. They’re just a little deeper than we are right now. … This was competitive, and I think we’re tougher than even I thought we’d be right now, so we’re gonna grind until February and see if we can get there.

“It’s just gonna take some time.”

Herscher 53, Marquette 31: The Crusaders started fast in the third-place game, taking a 10-3 lead on eight points by Avery Durdan, but turnovers and foul trouble plagued Marquette the rest of the way. Herscher scored the last seven points of the opening period, then used defense to limit MA to just six points over the next 17 minutes, 21 seconds to pull away for the win.

Durdan’s eight points and eight more from Chloe Larson led the Cru, which also got six points from Makayla Backos and five from Kealey Rick. Lilly Craig was named to the all-tournament team.

All-tourney pick Macey Moore led all scorers with 24 points for Herscher.

Serena 57, Dwight 34: Jenna Setchell fired in five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead the Huskers to the fifth-place win. Makayla McNally chipped in 13 points and Paisley Twait 10 for Serena, which extended a 13-7 lead after one period to 43-20 through three. Twait and Gwyneth O’Connell were tabbed all-tournament.

Mikalah Bregin led the Trojans with 11 points. All-tourney pick Kassy Kodat contributed eight points.

Seventh-place game

Hall 58, Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland 43: The Red Devils took control of this contest with a 20-14 third quarter, led by four 3-pointers by McKenna Christiansen.

Christiansen, an all-tourney choice, led all scorers with 26 points, while Toni Newton added 14 points and Kennedy Wozniak 12.

For the Falcons, Emme Wallace netted 13 points and Raegan Montello and all-tourney Ella Derossett had 11 points each.