You can find dozens of metaphors and definitions for makes a great rivalry. In the end, these games just mean more. And when it means more, the best often comes out of the coaches, and especially the players.
Mooney and Ursuline have decades of tradition between them, hard fought victories and intense competition. Those things, along with the toughness only a rivalry like this one can bring, were on full display tonight as the Lady Cardinals played host to the Fighting Irish.
The action started fast, with both teams exchanging 3 pointers to start. But the trademark for Mooney has always been their defense, and it quickly locked in on the Irish and held them to just 10 points in the first quarter. The Cardinals led by 5. However, the second quarter was not nearly as lopsided. In the quarter, Mooney scored 8 to Ursuline’s 7, led mostly by junior Katie Hough. Hough flirted with a double double for most of the game, and was exceptional from the free throw line, 7 of 9. Drama hit at the very end of the quarter however, as Gia Diorio for Mooney and Paris Gilmore for Ursuline both left the court with injuries. The two had been matched up on one another for the majority of the night.
Both Paris and Gia sat for most of the third quarter, but two more players would need medical attention. Alaina Scavina dealt with a lower leg injury, as did Rachel Fabry for the Irish. Ursuline, down two starters, would go on a run to cut the deficit to 3, but Maria Fire, a freshman thrust into action, played a huge role in Mooney retaking and maintaining a 5 point lead into the fourth. Fire had 6 points off the bench and 2 huge blocks.
Paris and Gia returned to the court, in what might be the most perfect and moving image to symbolize the Holy War rivalry. Paris, visibly limping and in pain, being guarded by Diorio, who had a severely taped left wrist which she couldn’t even dribble with, was truly a sight to behold. Scavina and Fabry also returned, making it four girls total fighting through the pain. That’s just how much it means.
The game, however, was simply taken over by Katie Hough. Her prolific free throw shooting and phenomenal defense were just too much for the Irish. Hough would finish with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Not to be outdone, senior Catie Perry had 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals, her hustle and on ball defense coming up huge down the stretch. But the same could be said for every girl who stepped foot on the court this game. The Irish and Cardinals laid it all on the court in the name of this rivalry. And despite the fact one team had to lose, everyone knows when it comes to Mooney and Ursuline, it’s never truly over.
This chapter of the Holy War goes too Mooney, a final score of 43-31.
