The St. Anne’s-Belfield girls basketball team came into Friday afternoon’s matchup against St. John Paul the Great Catholic on a roll, having won 13 straight games, including a 79-39 victory over Trinity Episcopal on Tuesday.
From the second they set foot on the court Friday, you could tell the Saints meant business.
STAB routed the Wolves, 91-51, earning their second 40-point victory this week.
The Saints (17-1) came out in a full-court press, which sped the game up and gave STAB a decided advantage.
“The thing about our team is we don’t have much size compared to other teams, so we try to use our speed a lot,” STAB coach Phil Stinnie said. “So getting in your face and the passing lanes is important. That’s when we play our best basketball.”
The Saints’ dominance was spearheaded by Kymora Johnson, who was named a McDonald’s All-American earlier this week.
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Johnson, who finished with 24 points, showed why she earned the prestigious honor on the court Friday.
The University of Virginia signee was everywhere all at once, a lock-down defender who can also make you pay in a variety of ways on the other end of the floor, both in the paint and from beyond the 3-point line. One of Johnson’s four made 3-pointers came from NBA range, not too far from the half court logo.
“It feels great,” Johnson said of being named a McDonald’s All-American. “I was happy all week so it just motivated me to go hard and leave it all on the floor.”
Another player who delivered for the Saints (17-1) was Sophie Gameni, who played selflessly throughout the game, allowing her to tally up countless assists. Her selfless style of play also opened up scoring opportunities for her later in the game, when the Wolves started trying to deny her passing lanes rather than her scoring lanes.
“We haven’t seen this team before or in a while, so we didn’t know what to expect,” said Gameni, who finished with 10 points. “We knew we had to play good defense, which we did, as well as pass the ball and look for the open player.”
Zoe Burruss, a freshman for the Saints, also played well, hitting five 3-pointers to finish the game with 17 points. Harmony Williams and Ashton Kilkoil each added 10 points to give the Saints five players in double figures.
STAB will look to continue its recent run of success next Friday when it hosts Collegiate at 6 pm
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