McAuley wins district hoops title
SHARONVILLE - When the news broke on Thursday that McAuley and Mercy would be merging high schools beginning in 2018, McAuley was busy preparing for its fifth consecutive Division I district championship game.
Two days later, on Saturday afternoon at Princeton, McAuley played for the name in gold across the front of its jersey, and the Mohawks won, 43-27, over Springboro to capture their second district championship in the last three years.
“To see McAuley win means something more to so many people in this city now,” said McAuley fourth-year head coach Dan Wallace. “Because it’s like they’re thinking about high school again. For us to be able to put in the paper tomorrow ‘McAuley wins,’ just the name, that’s what we wanted to do.
“There’s a lot of pride, a lot of tradition, a lot of history … I’ve got a lot of alumni on my staff, a lot of alumni and former coaches texting and calling me that are in full support of what we’re doing. You saw a tremendous crowd tonight.
“I think this week’s news does do something for that. I think they’re playing for something bigger than themselves right now.”
It took McAuley a quarter to get its gears grinding against Springboro, but once the Mohawks got rolling, they did not stop. After a feeling out period in the first quarter, McAuley motored by Springboro on a 16-2 run in the quarter which proved to be the difference in the game.
In the second and fourth quarters combined, McAuley held Springboro to a total of four points.
Wallace said the biggest difference was his team’s ability to force tough shots and rebound.
“We got rebounds. We forced tough shots. We did a nice job of setting some post traps and made them kick the ball out and we closed out beautifully,” said Wallace. “But, then we rebound. I’ve got one 6-footer (senior Alexah Chrisman) out there and a bunch of small girls that just play hard.”
It was a complete performance from McAuley. No individuals really stood out, but they all stood out.
“There’s not one person that’s the star of the team, we’re all there,” said Chrisman, who’s signed with Rice University. “When one person’s going we feed off each other, building each other up … just an all-around team.”
Senior guard Caroline Taphorn agreed, saying, “I think that’s the special thing about this team. Something we have that not everybody in the state of Ohio has and we’re hoping that’s what pushes us all the way through.”
Chrisman eclipsed 1,000 career points and finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Taphorn had 10 points and three assists. Junior Hallie Heidemann and sophomore Sydney Benning each had 11 points and four rebounds.
Chrisman said, “I definitely think we’ve been building a program the last four years and it’s been paying off. I couldn’t be more proud of the team that we have now.”
McAuley’s defense was troublesome. The Mohawks held Springboro to 21 percent shooting and forced the Panthers to attempt 23 3-pointers. McAuley also went 11-of-15 from the foul line, while Springboro was just 3-of-4.
McAuley (23-2) plays Mount Notre Dame on Wednesday at Trent Arena in a regional semifinal. A win would be the first regional championship berth in school history, said Wallace.
“My pregame I stood at the whiteboard and just wrote the word ‘team’ and then ‘McAuley,’ and that pretty much describes who we are,” said Wallace. “We’ve got the pride of McAuley on our back right now with everything that went down this week. And this group plays like a team, not just offensively as far as scoring. Defensively, if somebody gets beat there’s a rotation and it’s just team defense, team offense.”
Division I district final
At Princeton
McAuley 11-16-11-5 – 43
Springboro 10-2-13-2 – 27
McAuley (23-2) – Taphorn 4 0 10, Fleming 1 1 3, Chrisman 2 4 8, Heidemann 3 3 11, Benning 4 3 11. Totals: 14 11 43.
Springboro (20-6) – Lewis 1 0 3, Crouch 2 1 5, Browning 1 0 3, Diehl 4 2 12, Gillum 1 0 2, Nation 1 0 2. Totals: 10 3 27.
Halftime: McAuley 27-12. 3-pointers: M 4 (Taphorn 2, Heidemann 2); S 4 (Lewis, Browning, Diehl 2).