Lady Cardinals Fall to Amherst
By Ken McKenzie
The Pacelli Lady Cardinals played hard Friday night in hosting the Lady Falcons from Amherst but couldn’t find the shooting range consistently nor stop the execution of some inside passing and muscle and use of the glass by their visitors in dropping a 44-25 decision.
With the result, Amherst moves to 3-4 on the season while continuing their domination over Pacelli with this being the 22nd win in a row over Pacelli dating back to early in the 2004-05 season.
The loss causes Pacelli to fall to 2-5 on the season and 0-4 in Central Wisconsin Eight action going into the holiday break.
The Lady Cardinals shot eight of 33 from inside the arc while hitting only one of seven three-point attempts for a combined 22% FG shooting on the night. They did nail seven of ten free throw opportunities with Julia Grygleski going five for five from the charity stripe.
Amherst rolled out to a 14-2 opening period lead with Katherine Mueller connecting on the lone shot to drop in the initial eight minutes. Hannah Raflik dropped two jumpers early in the second frame but Amherst then burst ahead with a ten point run with Samantha Shafranski dropping a floater as she pierced the lane to end the first half scoring with Pacelli trailing, 28-8.
The visiting Lady Falcons hit the first six points in the third to push their advantage to 34-8 before Shafranski hit another jumper to push Pacelli into double digits. Christonna Shafranski added a hoop and a triple from the right arc as Pacelli closed the third quarter scoring, trailing 42-15.
Amherst let up on their scoring in the final frame with Pacelli outscoring the visitors 10-2 down the home stretch with Christonna Shafranski adding another deuce, Julia Grygleski twice adding a pair of FT’s and Emma Kulick connecting on a breakout after a steal. Freshman Morgan Kuckkahn dropped both ends of a bonus free throw opportunity inside the final minute to create the final scoring margin.
Coach Adam Osypowski’s Pacelli squad will hit the hardwood at the Sentry Classic as their next outings are Saturday, Dec. 27 in a 4:!5 p.m. game with Mosinee and a Monday, Dec. 29 noon clash with Green Bay NEW Lutheran with both games in the Quandt Fieldhouse on the UWSP campus.
Meanwhile Friday night, cold shooting also proved costly as the Pacelli boys team dropped a 51-32 decision at Amherst. The Cardinals hit six of 23 from the floor and only two of 13 from beyond the arc for a combined 22% connection rate while hitting on 14 of 21 charity tosses. James Gollon led the scoring effort with 12 points as Pacelli fell behind 11-4 after one period and 24-12 at the half. The loss puts the Cardinals record at 1-7 at the Christmas break.
Next up for Coach Brad Rutta’s charges is a Sat. Dec. 27 date with Green Bay NEW Lutheran at 7:45 p.m. at the Sentry Classic to be followed up by a Monday, Dec. 29 appearance against Elk Mound with a 5:15 p.m. start; again with both games at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
