Smith, Thompson lead SJB girls to victory

Alexis Smith and Kamala Thompson thought St. John the Baptist was relegated to playing in Class A for the state CHSAA girls basketball playoffs. The two, along with several teammates, believed Friday's game against Holy Trinity was only for second place in the league.

Then coaches informed them Friday that a win likely meant a berth in the state Class AA playoffs.

"We were scared," Smith said of the thought of playing in Class A. "I didn't think we had a shot at AA. We came out determined and were ready."

Did they ever. St. John the Baptist scored 22 points in the opening quarter and defeated host Holy Trinity, 69-51.

"Our team really didn't know that," Thompson said. "We didn't want to play in A. Our main goal was to play in Class AA all year."

SJB (17-5, 9-4) will clinch a berth in the state Class AA playoffs if it can beat Our Lady of Mercy on Wednesday to close out the regular season. The top two teams in the regular season play in the Class AA bracket and the next three in the standings go Class A.

"It was very big," Smith said. "We have the talent and it's tradition at St. John's. We didn't want to be that team to mess it up."

Smith scored 18 points, Thompson scored 14 and Brianna Thomas added 13 for the Cougars. Katie Poppe scored 21 points and Staci Barrett had 14 for Holy Trinity (16-7, 8-5).

SJB jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first 4:52 of the game and led 22-11 after the first quarter. Thompson scored seven points in the quarter.

For most of the season, the Cougars have struggled offensively, but they have scored at least 69 points in three consecutive games.

"We're putting it together and playing up to our potential," Smith said. "We're moving the ball crisply, cutting and hitting our open shots."

Said Thompson: "We had to come together as a unit. We have a lot of different personalities. We're coming together as one and you can see it on the floor. We're clicking."

The Cougars, who have won six of the last seven CHSAA titles, led 38-19 at the half, and the lead grew to 25 when Smith found Thomas for a fast-break layup with 4:12 left in the third quarter for a 50-25 lead.

Holy Trinity made it interesting, getting as close as 55-43 with 5:56 left in the game. Smith then scored six consecutive points to give the Cougars a 61-43 lead with 5:27 left.

"We're proud of their effort after falling behind, and we battled," Holy Trinity coach John Lipani said. "It's tough to come back from a 19-2 hole against a team like that. defense is feeding their offense. The pressure they put on the ball was intense."

With the playoffs about to start, St. John the Baptist is playing its best ball of the season.

"They just found themselves," SJB coach Ted Oberg said. "They're playing the defense we're capable of playing. We're running and playing an up-tempo game. We're doing all the things we thought we would be doing at the beginning of the season. We're going to be a tough out. They're ready. I feel sorry for anyone that has to play us right now. It's about peaking at the right time."