Courtesy: Scott Springs, Community Press
The St. Ursula Academy girls basketball team kick started their season Friday with a 54-42 come-from-behind win over Walnut Hills in the Kick-Off Classic opener.
It was the second straight season St. Ursula had knocked off Walnut in their opening game. Senior Madeline Morrissey sparked a fourth quarter run with defense, passes and free throws and finished with 15 points to lead the Bulldogs.
"She was like a gnat!" St. Ursula coach Jill Meiring said. "She was doing it all for us. I give all of the credit to the girls, they rallied and played really hard."
Related: St. Ursula schedule, stats
The early season rust was evident in the first quarter as the teams could only manage a basket apiece in the opening four minutes. The rims began to loosen up near the end of the frame with Walnut Hills taking the 11-6 lead thanks to a couple of scores by smooth operating freshman Sade Tucker.
St. Ursula woke up in the second half and managed to get the Lady Eagles in the bonus. Junior Riley Jerow finished the half with eight points as St. Ursula had a 19-17 lead at the 2:18 mark. However, Walnut Hills had a pair of three-balls from junior Emma Mertes and senior Khira Burton and eventually pulled to a 25-21 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw Walnut get out to a six-point edge thanks to the "moon ball" shooting of Burton. St. Ursula then lost top scorer Riley Jerow to an apparent knee injury. Jerow had 11 points at the time and the Bulldogs battled valiantly without her, trailing by just a point at quarter's end.
Junior Megan Bair finally put the Bulldogs in front with an early three in the fourth frame, 36-34. They would not trail the rest of the game.
Khira Burton would tie it with a bucket, but Bair would give St. Ursula the lead for a good soon after on a pair of free throws.
"I thought our defensive pressure got us back into that game," St. Ursula coach Jill Meiring said. "Madeline Morrissey and Megan Bair really stepped up when Riley (Jerow) got injured."
Morrissey made back door passes, stole the ball for a lay-up and kept getting to the free throw line as St. Ursula pulled away to win by 12. In doing so, the Bulldogs held Walnut's top scorer from a year ago, Arielle Varner, to five points.
Related: Walnut Hills schedule, stats
St. Ursula moves on to play the Fairfield/Chaminade-Julienne nightcap winner with Walnut Hills playing the loser of that game at 6 p.m. Leading the Lady Eagles in the loss was senior Khira Burton with 21 points.
Just 6-18 last winter, St. Ursula has just four seniors and has the rugged Girls Greater Catholic League ahead of them.
"We practice every day like we're getting ready to play Mount Notre Dame," Meiring said.