The third time was not the charm.
The Fontbonne Hall girls basketball team learned a hard lesson — it isn’t easy to beat a team three times — on March 4, when they fell 55-50 to No. 2 Monsignor McClancy in the Brooklyn-Queens Catholic High School Athletic Association ‘A’ division championship game.
It was a disappointing loss for top-seeded Fontbonne, which won both regular season matchups, 62-49 and 43-34. The squad had its sights set on a state championship this season, but was unable to connect on crucial shots down the stretch in the title contest.
“It’s the same story, it’s tough to beat a team three times. There’s a lot of truth to that,” said Bonnies coach Stephen Oliver. “It’s happened to me in the past and it happened to me again today. Credit to the girls, it’s a great group and I’m proud of them.”
It was a back-and-forth game from the start, as both teams were more than familiar with each other’s styles. Fontbonne grabbed a one-point lead heading into halftime, and padded that cushion late in the third, outscoring McClancy 11–8 in the quarter.
This time around, however, McClancy changed up its defensive approach, dropping into a tight man-to-man defense that kept Fontbonne’s strong-shooting backcourt on its toes.
“[The last time] we played a 1-2-2 (zone defense) and they had a lot of shooters,” said McClancy sophomore point guard Leandra Ortiz. “Today we were able to play man-to-man, and that got us up on the shooters.”
Fontbonne jumped out to a 46–41 lead with just under six minutes left — on Breanne McDonnell’s three-point bucket — but McClancy responded, knotting the game at 48-all with three minutes to play. Jillian Howard drained one from the line to make it a 49–48 Bonnies lead with 2:35 on the clock, but the team couldn’t hold the momentum. Ortiz connected on a big-time three with 1:36 left, putting McClancy up 51–49, and Fontbonne couldn’t find an answer.
“We missed shots around the net, we didn’t finish around the basket and we missed some foul shots,” Oliver said. “Credit to McClancy and their game plan. They did a beautiful job.”
Fontbonne had two looks in the waning seconds of the game, but failed to convert on either. The Bonnies turned the ball over with just over 20 seconds left and McDonnell couldn’t convert on a three-point attempt in the final moments. Emily Lind drained the team’s only point in the final two and a half minutes, going one-for-three from the foul line.
“Breanne had enough space to shoot the ball,” Ortiz said later. “But it’s towards the end of the game and maybe her legs were lost a little bit.”
Fontbonne will graduate eight seniors from this year’s roster, but Oliver is certain the future is still bright. A loss like this stings now, he said, but for the three returning starters, it also fuels the fire.
“I can’t see it not,” Oliver said. “They’re those types of players. There’s a lot of desire to get better and they work hard in the offseason. I’m looking forward to giving it another shot.”
