Despite a stellar regular season, the second-seeded School of the Holy Child Gryphons fell to the Mighty Lions of Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Fairchester Athletic Association championship February 25.
By Kevin LaManna
Despite a stellar regular season, the second-seeded School of the Holy Child Gryphons fell to the Mighty Lions of Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Fairchester Athletic Association championship February 25.
Fresh off a 42-30 win over the seventh-seeded Greenwich Academy team in the FAA quarterfinals, the Gryphons were poised to seize the title. The crowd was at capacity in the Sacred Heart gym in Greenwich for what turned out to be a physical, intensely played showdown.
Sacred Heart exploded on to the court early, building a ten-point lead six minutes into regulation time.
With hustle and solid defense, helped by key layups and foul shooting from Chellzea Edgar, the Gryphons pulled within two points (25-23) with three minutes left in the half. Edgar was playing despite having injured both of her knees earlier in the season. Unfortunately, from that point on, the Mighty Lions started pulling away.
Play got intense and rough in the second half. Led by senior captain M.C. (Mary Claire) Manfredi, Holy Child maintained their intensity, but both teams caused a number of turnovers and heavy fouling tested both teams’ foul line skills. In the end, three-pointers and play under the hoop on both sides of the court pushed the Tigers to a 63-45 win.
After the buzzer, Holy Child coach Mike Duignan reflected on his team and their season, “Our mantra this year was, ‘Just play the game in front of us.’ We didn’t think about the playoffs or the finals. We always broke on ‘Play hard’. We kept to that and it brought us all the way.”
Senior captain M. C. Manfredi shared the credit with her entire squad, “We had a really great group of girls that automatically clicked. On paper, you wouldn’t expect us to be as good as we were, but it was the fact that everyone was willing to work together and be flexible. There was no single go-to person.”
Congratulations to the Gryphons for an excellent season, and cheers for a repeat performance next year.
— Photos by ryesportsphotos.com
