By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
HADDONFIELD — In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter on Thursday night, host Paul VI resembled a 1974 Buick Skyhawk, leaking oil on I 95 South and looking for an off ramp to cool off an overheated engine.
The undefeated eagles had given up a 43-39 lead over St. John Vianney in the Non-Public A South sectional semifinals, and with time winding down to less than 20 seconds in regulation, they hadn’t scored in more than three minutes. The Lancers had charged ahead, taking a 45-43 lead, and Paul VI missed a 3-point shot with 18 seconds remaining.
Luckily, there was a tie-up on the rebound and the possession arrow favored the Eagles. With time winding under 10 seconds, Azanah Campbell drove the lane, drew the defense, and dished to a wide open Kiyanna Blacks-Stewart, who converted the easy layup to tie the game at 45 and send it into overtime.
Vianney clawed away at the Eagles’ four-point lead for much of the overtime, but Paul VI guard Rachel Thatcher drained a pair of foul shots with six seconds left to seal a 56-52 victory and send the Eagles to the sectional championship. The top-seeded Eagles will face No. 3 Red Bank Catholic — a 54-53 upset winner over No. 2 St. Rose — in Monday’s sectional title game at Lenape High at 5 p.m.
“I practice free throws all the time. My percentage hasn’t been the greatest, but I knew when I got up to the line I just had to take care of business, and I shot them without thinking,” said Thatcher, who scored 15 points and went 5-of-6 from the line, including 4-for-4 in the overtime period. “It was a great game. We all fought through adversity and trusted in our plays and in ourselves. This season has been a great season, and we were ready for this moment.”
“My voice is shot. We lost to them (in the past) so we knew they were going to be ready. They have a very good coach, so I knew they were going to have a game plan. We beat them last time at their gym, but I knew this was going to be a different game. The playoffs is a whole different game. I’m proud of my girls for how they stepped up,” said Paul VI coach Orlando Hidalgo. “Once we got into overtime, I said, ‘we got this.’ We had a lot of opportunities to go ahead but we made some bad mistakes. We forced shots when we didn’t need to, especially when we had the lead. And they made some incredible shots, but I knew if we had some time that I could trust my players. We’ve been in big games all year and we’ve been battle tested. So I know if we have a chance, I can count on my girls.”
Blacks-Stewart averages nearly 12 points per game but was limited to just four against Vianney (22-7, 7-2 Shore Conference A Coastal). But those two baskets were monumental. The first one sent the game into overtime, then she had a put-back on the Eagles’ first possession of overtime that gave them the lead for good at 47-45.
“Kiyanna was in foul trouble the entire first half and she didn’t have her best game, but she made the biggest basket of her career,” Hidalgo said.
“Kiyanna struggled a little bit, but she made that shot, and that’s what matters,” Thatcher added. “That was the biggest shot of the game and we really respect her and have trust in her.”
Paul VI (26-0, 6-0 Olympic National) jumped out to a 54-48 lead in overtime, but Vianney got a putback from Charlotte Bradley and a driving layup from Aleena Dinker to pull to within 54-52 before Thatcher iced the game with less than seven seconds remaining.
“When we went into overtime, it was a sigh of relief, but we knew we had to take care of business,” Thatcher said. “There was only four minutes left, and we were locked in.”
“These girls just believe. They believe in each other, and there is no quit in any of them,” Hidalgo said. “We’ve been battle tested — a perfect example is the Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) game (in mid-February), we were down 17 points and we battled back, every quarter, until there were about three minutes left and then we turned it around. It’s a testament to how great of shape (my players) are in. We normally wear teams down. Teams might be able to hang with us, but in the fourth quarter, or if a game goes into overtime, we feel like we have the edge (because of our conditioning). They hate running, but we get our running in.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 1 Paul VI vs. No. 3 Red Bank Catholic in the Non-Public A South championship game, Monday at 5 p.m. at Lenape High. St. John Vianney’s season is complete.
