CeCe Leone had 31 points in Cardinals win at Archbishop Carroll on Friday.
Senior CeCe Leone had a career-high 31 points as Bishop Ireton (12-8, 3-6) staged a second half rally in Washington Friday night to sweep the regular season series with the Lions, 65-59.
The Cardinals had an inauspicious beginning to the evening, falling behind 12-4 before Coach Jason Harris got a time out and steadied the ship. Ireton responded and closed the quarter on an 11-4 run to trail 16-15.
Archbishop Carroll jumped on the visitors early in the second stanza and raced back out to a 31-22 margin, only to again see the visitors rally to trail by only 37-32 at intermission.
Ireton grabbed its first lead at 38-37 and the traded baskets with the white-jerseyed Lions on top 45-43 as the teams headed into the 4th period. And, that was “show time” for Leone.
Bailey White, with 26 points of her own on the night for Carroll, had kept the Lions in control of the contest, but the final period belonged to the ponytailed Ireton senior. With the visitors trailing 47-43, the senior forward scored the game’s next 6 points and the Cardinals surged to a 49-47 lead.
The teams traded baskets, Carroll edging ahead, 53-50, but junior Paige Russell drained her only three of the game, to tie it at 53-53.
Leone scored again to put Ireton up 55-53, Alex Stipano’s layup gave Ireton a 4-point cushion, and shortly thereafter Leone again broke a tie to push the Cardinals back to a 59-58 lead.
A frantic final two minutes, with the Lions fouling the visiting Cardinals resulted in Ireton creeping away as Carroll could not close the gap on their opportunities from the free throw line nor from the field. Aiden Phillips and Hannah Miller’s free throws were the final points of the evening as Ireton ended the game with their largest lead of the night.
Michelle Montgomery joined Leone in double figures with 13, Russell added 8, Stipano had 7.
Bishop McNamara visits the Cardinals Wednesday at 6pm, following a 4:30 JV contest. Working around semester exams, the Cardinals follow the Mustangs’ contest with a short bus ride on Friday night to Bishop O’Connell.
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