St. Mary’s Rallies For Senior Night Win Over Sacred Heart

Senior night is always a big deal but this one was kind of special for the St. Mary’s High School girls basketball team.

When these seniors were freshmen, the Lancers were ten games under .500 and beating storied programs like Sacred Heart wasn’t a reasonable goal.

Things are different today.

Four-year varsity seniors Caitlin Bish and Caroline Zanghi each scored 10 points in support of a game-high 31 from star freshman Shay Ciezki as the Lancers beat Sacred Heart in Lancaster for the first time in program history in a 74-63 Monsignor Martin Athletic Association victory on Friday night.

“If you look at the difference, it’s amazing,” Lancers coach Jason Kline said. “Four years ago we came in with a new coaching staff, Catie and Caroline were here, and we were getting whooped up on pretty much every game we played. For us now, to be in this position, it’s nice. It’s rewarding for those two especially, but all the seniors.”

St. Mary’s trailed for a good chunk of the first half but took control after halftime. The Lancers grabbed the lead for good on a 3-pointer by junior Myla Kline with 45 seconds left in the third quarter and built a lead as big as 17 in the fourth.

“I think we just tried to play tough D and press them a little bit and create havoc for them,” Bish said. “It worked out for us.”

St. Mary’s struggled offensively in the first quarter and the Sharks took a 29-25 lead, holding Ciezki to a modest 8 points in the first two quarters. The third was different. The dynamic young guard scored 16 points and added 5 assists in the third period as St. Mary’s took the lead.

“I put a little challenge on her at halftime,” Kline said. “I told her she needed to step up her game and little bit and she responded. That’s great to see.”

St. Mary’s put the game away with a 21-5 second-half run, headlined by back-to-back 3-pointers by Bish that brought the home crowd to its feet.

“Those were huge,” Kline said. “She’s settled into her role, which is a little bit different this year, to hit back-to-back from the wing, that was really nice.”

Tori Wipperman added 8 points, while Myla Kline and Lauren Nawojski netted 7 each for the Lancers (19-2 overall, 10-1 MMAA).

Prior to the game, seniors Bish, Zanghi, Wipperman, and Emily Molnar were acknowledged with flowers for their contributions to the program, which has grown from pretender to contender in a short time,

“It was nice,” said Zanghi, who now sits 10 points shy of 1,000 for her career. “Everyone got in. The seniors got to play more than usual. It’s great to get this win.”

Siobhan Ryan led the Sharks with 18 points, while Morgan Giancaterino scored 15, Rachel Adolf netted 13 and Erin Hardick 10 for the  Sharks (7-12 overall, 4-7 MMAA).

“Our shooting percentage killed us in the fourth quarter,” Sacred Heart coach Carrie Owens said. “We were making consistent shots all throughout the game and we kept taking the same shots,  they just weren’t falling. We were one-and-done on offensive glass on our end and they were killing us on their end and getting those easy buckets. That’s what hurt us.”