MILLTOWN — The Saint Mark’s girls basketball team played its final regular-season home game on Feb. 17, and if the results are any indicator, the Spartans will be hoping for another outing on Tom Rosa Court in the upcoming DIAA state tournament.
Sophia Messick scored 26 points, including six three-point shots, as the Spartans took a 58-33 decision over Padua. With the win, the Spartans improved to 14-4.
Messick, a junior, swished a triple on Saint Mark’s first possession of the evening, and after the teams traded field goals, she did it again. The Pandas missed on multiple opportunities when they got the ball back, and Messick made them pay. She drained two more triples, running her personal scoring streak to nine points, before a Kylie Moor free throw put an end to that. But Messick was not done, connecting on a 16-foot jumper as the first-quarter buzzer sounded. The Spartans led by 15 after one.
The Pandas, playing their first game under a new coach, Sam Bonvetti, gathered themselves and put together a much better second period. They held the Spartans to just nine points, and Val McIntyre helped spark the Padua offense with a couple of buckets. A second-chance shot by Alexis Greenjack made the score 23-11, and Esosa Ediae followed with an old-fashioned three-point play to get the Pandas back to within single digits.
Moira Marcozzi came off the bench to provide a spark for Saint Mark’s late in the second. She made one of two free throws, then banked in a three-pointer to help her team take an 11-point advantage into the locker room.
The Spartans put the game out of reach in the third. Bella Prado started the scoring with a mid-range jumper off the glass, and Messick dialed long-distance again to run the score to 32-16. Two Keira Benoit free throws and a long two from Gillian Cantagallo concluded a 9-1 open to the third. Padua, down 19, responded by scoring the next six points, but Saint Mark’s collected the final six points of the quarter to swing the momentum and seal the deal.
Messick was the only player for either team in double figures. Benoit scored eight points, all in the second half, and was six for six from the free throw line. The Spartans will play Saturday night at 7:15 at Ursuline.
Nine players scored for the Pandas, with Ediae and McIntyre each finishing with six. It was Padua’s final regular-season game; they finished 8-11. The Pandas will have to wait until next Friday to see if that is good enough for a berth in the 24-team tournament.
All photos by Mike Lang.
