A slow start and cold shooting afternoon were too much to overcome for the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears in the class 1A state semifinal round from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Friday afternoon, as the #4 Golden Bears saw their season come to an end at the hands of the #1 St. Albert Saintes for the second season in a row, this time by a final count of 59-51.
The Golden Bears were held scoreless until the 5:15 mark of the first quarter, as St. Albert built a 9-0 lead right off the bat. Bishop Garrigan turned the basketball over three times in the first two and a half minutes while adjusting to the Saintes’ full court press before Golden Bear Head Coach Brandon Schwab called his first timeout.
Schwab felt the opening moments of the game proved to be costly for Bishop Garrigan.
Foreshadowing a theme for the afternoon, Bishop Garrigan battled back into the game, scoring 8 of the next 12 points to make the score 12-8 with 3:06 remaining in the first. In what would also become a theme, the Saintes didn’t let the Golden Bears keep their momentum for long, as St. Albert would score four straight points to bring the game to 16-8 before an Emmi Bartolo layup with 24 seconds remaining made the score to 16-10 at the end of one.
Bartolo and Alesch both canned three point shots early in the second, forcing a timeout by St. Albert Head Coach Dick Wettengel with 6:23 left in the second and his team’s lead down to 21-16. Coming out of the timeout, the Saintes delivered eight straight points, with a layup by Maura Ryan and a three by Ellie Monahan highlighting the run, which stretched until Bishop Garrigan finally scored again with 2:20 left in the half, following a four minute and five second drought.
The Golden Bears once again showed their mettle, scoring six straight points, capped by a Zoe Montag layup with 38 seconds left in the half, making the score 29-22, but Ryan buried a momentum-changing, buzzer-beating three pointer to put the Saintes back up ten at intermission.
The Golden Bears never stopped battling according to Schwab.
By the time halftime arrived, the Golden Bears were sitting at an unsightly 6/26 from the field.
The second half started with a flurry of activity for Bishop Garrigan, using an aggressive press to force two turnovers in the first 1:10. Layups by Madelyn Tigges and Zoe Montag combined with two free throws from Sacha Alesch got Bishop Garrigan to within four points at 32-28 nearing the 6:44 mark of the third.
Montag says the Golden Bears kept fighting all afternoon.
After the teams traded punches for a couple of possessions, a 7-0 Saintes run, capped by a Monahan three, ballooned the lead back to eleven points, and St. Albert would lead 45-34 at the end of three.
Wettengel says his players know when the right time to shoot the three pointer is.
Starting off the final eight minutes, layups by Avah Underwood and Maura Ryan for St. Albert were sandwiched around a Montag three for the Golden Bears, extending the Saintes’ lead to 12 one minute into the fourth. With their backs against the wall, the Golden Bears dug in to rally one more time.
Tigges started the charge with 6:42 left, finishing through a foul for two points, missing the free throw on the back end. Carley Nielson canned a jumper from the short corner to bring the game back within arms reach at a nine point margin.
One Underwood free throw later, Bishop Garrigan ripped off another six straight points, with layups by Graclyn Eastman and Emmi Bartolo, plus two Sacha Alesch free throws. Overall, it would be a 10-1 scoring run in a span of 4:20, as the Saintes missed all five of their shots from the field during that time.
Eastman was proud of the way the Golden Bears fought back into the game.
By the time the Saintes called a timeout with 2:16 left, their lead was down to 54-51. St. Albert would regain their two-possession lead on the first possession coming out of the time out, as Ryan delivered a layup for a 56-51 advantage. On the ensuing Bishop Garrigan possession, the Golden Bears would miss a prime opportunity to score, having three opportunities thanks to a pair of offensive boards, but missed all three jump shots on the possession to come up empty-handed.
Underwood played all 32 minutes, while Ryan played 30 for St. Albert. Ryan’s motivation got her through fatigue in the second half.
Alesch, Bartolo, and Eastman all eclipsed 30 minutes on the floor for the Golden Bears.
A stop on defense for Bishop Garrigan was followed by a timeout with 31 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Golden Bears didn’t get enough air on their inbounds pass, throwing it short and into the back of Ryan, who grabbed the ball for a backbreaking turnover.
Ryan was the star for St. Albert, finishing as the game’s leading scorer with 16 points, doing it on 6/9 shooting from the field. Ryan knocked down 2/3 threes and played a critical role in ball-handling against the Bishop Garrigan press, while also finishing with six rebounds and six steals.
According to Wettengel, what Ryan did on Friday was nothing new.
Monahan finished with 13 points, making 4/5 field goals including all three of her three point attempts. Underwood finished just 3/12 from the field, but converted 6 of 10 free throws to finish at 12 points. She would also grab 16 rebounds and dish out five assists in the victory.
Eastman recorded her 15th double double of the season in the loss, scoring 14 points on 7/11 field goals, while pulling in 18 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass.
Schwab did not feel that the Golden Bears got Eastman enough touches early in the game.
Bartolo scored 10 points on 4/12 shooting, while Alesch added 10 points, finishing 1/13 from the field and 1/8 from three, but converting on seven of her eight free throw opportunities. Montag, the lone senior on Bishop Garrigan, scored 7 points in the final game of her career, while leading the Golden Bears with four assists.
Schwab says Montag did everything asked of her for four seasons.
Montag leaves high school basketball behind feeling a sense of gratitude.
Bishop Garrigan couldn’t replicate the same hot shooting performances they’d displayed throughout the postseason, being held to 33.3% shooting from the field and 4/21 on threes by the St. Albert defense. The Golden Bears capitalized on 11/14 attempts from the charity stripe.
Wettengel had his team fully focused on limiting the three point shot of Bishop Garrigan.
St. Albert finished the game making 44.7% of their shots, 6/14 threes, and 11/17 free throws.
Rebounding and turnovers were virtually a draw, with both teams committing 14 turnovers and the Saintes outrebounding the Golden Bears 33-32, while Bishop Garrigan had a 14-11 edge on the offensive glass.
Schwab felt that the game was a constant chess match between the two pressing teams.
Montag felt the physicality of the game go to a whole new level at the state tournament.
Bishop Garrigan’s season comes to an end at the hands of St. Albert for the second year in a row, after the Saintes defeated Bishop Garrigan 53-42 in last year’s state quarterfinal round, before ultimately succumbing to eventual champion North Linn in the semifinals.
St. Albert (24-1) advances to their first state championship game since the year 2000, and stays alive in their bid for their program’s first state championship. The Saintes will face last year’s state runner up, Newell-Fonda, who defeated North Linn by a final count of 48-38 on Friday afternoon. Bishop Garrigan concludes their campaign with a record of 23-4 and sixth straight class 1A state berth.
