Scorching start sends Ursuline past Concord

WILMINGTON – Every basketball game has a winner and a loser. But sometimes, both teams can go home happy.

Ursuline blew out to a huge lead in its girls basketball showdown with undefeated Concord on Tuesday night, but couldn’t turn it into a blowout. Concord fought back before a packed house on the road, gaining confidence by the quarter.

So Ursuline walked away happy with a 50-41 win. And third-ranked Concord walked away happy to play the state’s No. 1 team evenly for the last three quarters.

“A lot of people expect us to win by 15, 20, 30 points every time we step on the floor,” Ursuline coach John Noonan said. “We’re a young basketball team, too. We’re just trying to play, and we’re trying to be one point better than our opponent.”

Ursuline (15-5) was much better than Concord (19-1) at the start. A torrid pace and devastating full-court press forced the visitors into seven turnovers in the first four minutes, and Ursuline took full advantage.

“Running fast in transition and getting easy layups in transition is what we do best,” said Ursuline senior Sabriya Harris, who scored nine points in the first half of the first quarter.

Concord’s Wynter McLaughlin (bottom) tries to get a loose ball away from Ursuline’s Sabriya Harris in Ursuline’s 50-41 win at home Tuesday.

Kailyn Kampert hit two free throws, and Harris drove for a layup and scored on a fast break following a turnover. Then Alisha Lewis made a short jumper and Harris turned Maggie Connolly’s fast-break assist into a three-point play for an 11-0 lead just 2:32 into the game.

“Sabriya was really, really good,” Noonan said. “We got out in transition, got some easy ones. A great start.”

Jamiyah Dennis finally got Concord on the board with two free throws, but Connolly hit a cutting Lewis for a layup and Kampert passed to a streaking Harris for another easy score to make it 15-2.

“Once you get that going and you put some pressure on them and you try to get the tempo going your way, good things tend to happen,” Noonan said.

Ursuline closed the quarter with a fast-break layup by Yanni Hendley-McCalla, two free throws by Lewis and a layup by Olivia Mason. It was 21-5, and Concord had 11 turnovers. Ursuline had no turnovers.

“We got caught up in the moment in the first quarter, and we didn’t do the things we had done well all year,” Concord coach John Armstrong said. “It got away from us.”

But Concord started to settle down and played evenly in the second quarter, as both teams scored 13 points. It was 34-18 at the half, but it could have been a disaster.

“I thought they did a good job,” Noonan said of Concord. “They definitely gained confidence, for sure.”

Ursuline opened the third quarter on a 9-4 run, taking its biggest lead at 43-22 on two free throws by Kryshell Gordy. But Concord refused to fold.

Concord scored 16 of the next 20 points, pulling within 47-38 on an offensive rebound by Wynter McLaughlin and a free throw by Zhan’e Snow with 2:48 to play. Then came three chances to get even closer, but the Concord shots wouldn’t fall.

“It’s a learning experience for kids who haven’t been there,” Armstrong said. “A lot of our young kids haven’t been there. This is a state tournament game, without it costing us a one and done. I told them that.”

Ursuline pulled out of its full-court press in the second half, perhaps keeping some options in reserve for a potential state tournament rematch in two weeks.

“We know there are bigger games ahead, so we’re trying some things,” Noonan said. “We had one kid that wasn’t feeling well, so we just tried to see what our half-court defense looked like.”

Harris led Ursuline with 12 points. Connolly added nine, and Kampert had seven points and seven rebounds. Snow scored 12, Dennis added 11 points and Holly Panchak had 10 rebounds for Concord.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ