Convent of the Sacred Heart blasts St. Luke's in FAA hoops opening round

Written by Paul Silverfarb
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 01:00

If there was any pressure on head coach Sean Green or any of the Convent of the Sacred Heart basketball players earlier today, if definitely didn't show yesterday.

After earning the school's first Fairchester Athletic Association regular season championship in 23 years, the Tigers took its top seed to the CSH hardwood in the FAA tournament opening round game against St. Luke's and came away with the commanding 56-40 victory.

"We are in a really high-stress situation here," Sacred Heart head coach Sean Green said. "We are the No. 1 seed and we weren't looking forward. We were looking to this game and it feels good to come through and advance. In this league there are six teams that on any given night could win. I don't think any league champion has lost the tournament and we don't plan on being the first one."

For Sacred Heart, Colleen O'Neill paced the team with 14 points and added five rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Emily O'Sullivan finished with 13 points and chipped in with 10 rebounds, while Kayla Souza added 12 points, all from behind the 3-point line. Souza also added three rebounds and two steals.

Another Tiger that was stellar from 3-point land was Allison Toner, who scored netted her six points from two successful 3-pointers. Toner also had three rebounds, two steals and one assist.

"We came out a little flat," Green said. "This team is a feisty team that never gives up fighting. That's a great quality for a team to have. It's good that we started hitting our shots and that we were getting a hand up on defense and contesting shots. It's also good that we are here on our home court."

On the other side of the ball, St. Luke's was led by Anisa Fortt, who scored 10 points and had eight rebounds, four steals and one assist. Melanie Bow finished with eight points and six rebounds, while Kathleen Kelly scored seven points and four rebounds.

"This team never gives up and we are a young team," St. Luke's head coach Jennifer Pokorney said. "They are still learning how to play basketball. There are a couple of times we break down for a few minutes and that's when the opposing team's get that 10-point lead on us. I am excited for next season because I get all these girls back and they will all have a year's worth of experience under their belts."

With the victory, Sacred Heart upped its record to 16-7 and will host Rye Country Day School in the FAA semifinals Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. St. Luke's finished its season with a 5-18 overall record.

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