Junior Reeme Lghzaoui is one of 9 letterwinners the Cardinals look to return to the 2011-12 campaign
It was a whirlwind experience for Bishop Ireton in the 2011 Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association’s Division I girls basketball tournament. The Cardinals hosted Epsicopal High School Tuesday night in Father Godley Gym and used a big third quarter to pull away to a 51-33 win. The next afternoon, the Alexandria school journeyed to Oakton to play second seeded Flint Hill, falling to the Huskies 66-44.
Episcopal jumped to a 5-0 lead early in the contest and junior guard Reeme Lghzaoui tumbled into the bleachers attempting to save an errant pass at the 5:15 mark in the opening quarter and could not return to action. But Coach Derek Campbell responded to the unusual start with a full court press and the Cardinals scored the next 11 points of the quarter to close in period of play up 11-5.
The visitors from Quaker Lane responded with a 6-0 run to tie the contest and the second quarter was a see-saw affair with Ireton clinging to a 20-17 halftime lead. It was the Cardinals’ third period, however that decided the contest.
Ireton returned to a pressure, full court press to open the second half and the tight defense opened up the Cardinal offense as the hosts raced away with a 19-3 advantage through the period with a last second Maroon three-point shot accounting for half their 6 points in the third stanza. Going into the final session the Cards held a 39-23 advantage.
As good as the third quarter was for Bishop Ireton, it was equally rough in the fourth. EHS came out with a 8-0 quickly and closed the margin to 39-31. Sophomore Mara Celis-Copeletti finally hit a jumper for the Cardinals and pushed the lead to 42-32 with 2:30 remaining and both squads emptied the benches and the Ireton reserves etched their names in the scorebook as the lead ballooned to the 51-33 final. Celis-Copeletti led Ireton in scoring while Episcopal’s Cat Lambert led all scorers with 13 points.
Wednesday was another rematch with Flint Hill and once again the Huskies proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle, falling 66-44 in Oakton. Alex Long of Flint Hill led all scorers with 19 points, once again Celis-Copeletti paced Ireton with 12 in the loss. Junior Helena Barber added 7, as did sophomore Camille Webber.
The Huskies held a 31-19 lead at the half on the strength Long’s three point shooting. Unlike the previous night, where the Cardinals went 18-24 at the charity stripe, neither Flint Hill nor Ireton had much success from the foul line, with the Cardinals only 7-13, and the Huskies 12-21. Flint Hill (25-6) advances to face Bishop O’Connell on Friday in Richmond and a possible championship date with top seeded PVI on Saturday. The Cardinals end the 2010-11 campaign at 5-22.
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