St. Anthony's beats St. John the Baptist
St. Anthony's Johanna Impellizeri drives the baseline against St. John the Baptist's Anastasia Williams. (Jan. 4, 2012 Credit: George A. Faella
One of the biggest factors separating St. Anthony's from the rest of the CHSAA is depth. Kimani Jackson was lost for the season with a torn MCL after the first game of the season and Rebecca Musgrove missed her fifth straight game Wednesday night with a torn muscle in her right quad.
Siena-bound Symone Kelly was in foul trouble and it still didn't deter the Friars on the road against St. John the Baptist. Chastity Taylor had 17 points and seven rebounds, sophomore guard Tyla Parham scored a career-high 16 points and Kelly had seven points and 19 rebounds for St. Anthony's in a 56-34 win over St. John the Baptist in a CHSAA girls basketball game.
"St. John the Baptist is our biggest rival," said Parham, who is batting shin splints and was limited in the second half. "Injuries are always going to be a factor, but you have to fight through them. I had to step it up to get this win."
She certainly did with 12 of her points in a 29-21 first half for St. Anthony's (8-2, 5-0) as her quickness helped get her to the basket with ease.
"She's been playing like that for a while," said her father and St. Anthony's coach Ken Parham. "This is the first time people might have seen it. When she was penetrating, I told her keep going until someone stops you."
Tyla has elevated her game with Musgrove out, as has Taylor. Musgrove is expected to miss another 2-4 weeks. Taylor scored seven points in a 15-5 third quarter that gave the Friars a 44-26 lead. "We know if someone is out, someone will step up," Taylor said. "I feel I have to step up a lot. Rebecca did many things for us."
Said Ken Parham: "I'm just happy Chastity is healthy. She's starting to find her niche on this team and she's contributing a lot. She's really talented."
The Friars' defense limited St. John the Baptist (7-6, 3-2) to two field goals in the second half, including none in the fourth. It was the fifth straight win over SJB for the Friars. SJB lost to St. Anthony's, 66-39, on Dec. 13, but played without FDU-bound Anastasia Williams. She played Wednesday night, but picked up her third foul with 6:18 left in the first half and sat the rest of the quarter.
"Defensively, they forced us to turn over the ball," St. John's the Baptist coach Ted Oberg said. "It's not like we haven't seen that pressure before. Anastasia going out didn't help us. We missed a lot of point-blank shots. It was a lack of execution."
