Francis Lewis was pushing Bishop Ford to its mental breaking point. The Falcons saw their lead evaporate and were down 11 with 1:40 left in the third after the Patriots used a 3-2 defense to spark a torrid 18-0 run.
“They went on the little run and I look up and say, ‘Damn, I’m down 10,’” Bishop Ford coach John LoSasso said. “I know my team doesn’t like to be down 10. They start questioning each other.”
Then star Shayra Brown provided the answer to whether her team was going to be alright or not. The junior forward was fouled on a 3-pointer and completed a 4-point play to calm her teammates and put an end to the Patriots’ momentum.
“That was really big,” forward Vanessa D’Ambrosi said. “It got us closer, so we could pull through.”
From that point on Bishop Ford got contributions up and down its roster and saw D’Ambrosi and Brittany Lewis control the boards and got out in transition. The Falcon gradually erased the Francis Lewis lead and held on for a 67-63 win at the Big Apple Recruiting Christmas Classic at Bishop Ford Monday.
“It was a good win,” Brown said. “We pulled it out really well. This is really our first win in the tournaments we’ve been to. We were 1-for-4. This really helped us a lot. We just have to keep it going.”
Brown, in her best overall performance of the season, scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out five assists and added eight steals. Lewis had 18 points and 11 rebounds and D’Ambrosi added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
“She is evolving,” LoSasso said of Brown. “The most important thing for her is her head. That was probably her most focused game.”
While Brown got the comeback ball rolling, it was her supporting cast that brought the victory home. Tatiana Wilson scored 22 points for Francis Lewis (5-2), including two 3-pointers at the end of the third. Her second came with five seconds left to give the Patriots a 55-48 lead heading into the fourth, but Bishop Ford (4-5) had one more run left.
Francis Lewis’s 18-0 spurt was sparked mostly by the defense and transition play of guards Kelly Robinson, Andree DeLeon and Wilson, hiding the fact that forwards Ayana Duncanson (12 points) and Sabrina Jeridore were in foul trouble. But in the fourth, it was Ford controlling the boards and getting out in transition.
“Our bigs were in foul trouble and they kind of figured they could lay off,” said Steve Tsai, who is now 2-1 since taking over for Mike Eisenberg, who was dismissed as coach two weeks ago.
Diani Mason connected on a 3-pointer with 4:23 left to give the Falcons their first lead since early in the third. Francis Lewis got a lay-up from Jeridore, but the Falcon got fast-break baskets from Lewis and Anjali Moncrieffe and then a putback by Lewis to take a 64-59 lead with 1:20 left.
Francis Lewis had a chance tie the score at 64, but Wilson missed a free throw that would have completed a 3-point play with 37.3 seconds left. The Patriots could not find a way to pull out another close game late.
“The three games that I’ve been part of have all been close games,” Tsai said. “We should never have had them, especially since we had a lead.”
The win was quite an emotional one for Ford, but LoSasso is still wait and see about the overall effect it will have on his young squad.
“I’ll let you know next Wednesday night,” he said. “After we play Mary Louis.”
