St. Mary's girls basketball advances to state Federation tournament
Kayla Solomon 35 of St. Mary's High School in action against Nichols High School in the girls basketball state CHSAA finals at Fordham University, Saturday, March 11, 2023 in the Bronx , New York. St. Mary's won the state championship 66 to 49. Photo/ Louis Lanzano Credit: Louis lanzano
If you want to know the key ingredients to winning a championship, talk to St. Mary’s girls basketball coach Kevin White.
His Gaels do it all and everyone has a role. They have scorers. They have intense defensive pressure. And they hit critical free throws in crunch time.
Add it all up and it's a recipe for winning.
The scoring came from Kayla Solomon with 20 points and Taryn Barbot, who added 17, as St. Mary’s downed Nichols School of Buffalo, 66-49, to repeat as state Class AA Catholic High School Athletic Association championship late Saturday night at Fordham University.
The free-throw efficiency came from Solomon and Tara Murray, who closed out the win by knocking down eight of 10 free throws in the final 1:27. Murray iced the win with four of those free throws and finished with 15 points.
“They’re hands down our best two free-throw shooters,” White said. “We kept the ball in their hands to secure the win.”
The Gaels (25-4) earned the right to play in the state Federation tournament March 25-26 in Albany. They’ll meet the winner of the New York State Public School Athletic Association title in a state semifinal.
“Our goal is to always win the Catholic League, the Long Island Catholic playoff title and then the state tournament,” White said. “Now, we get the chance to play the best in the state for the Federation. It’s an amazing accomplishment for a school that has no more than 350 kids. I’m so proud of our girls.”
Nichols School finished with a 24-4 record.
The Gaels' biggest challenge was the height of the much taller Vikings, who had three starters taller than 6-1. The Gaels, whose starters average 5-9, negated the size disadvantage with a smothering defense.
“We had two freshmen, Tianna Thompson and Scarlet Cubero, play very good defense in big moments,” White said.
The two helped the Gaels turn the momentum their way in the final minutes of the second quarter. The defensive combo of Thompson and Cubero created five turnovers in six possessions to key a 10-0 run as the Gaels took a 30-25 halftime lead.
“Our pressure defense tends to cause turnovers and these girls played so well in the big moments,” White said. “We were on a college court and the players can get fatigued as we press all over the court. We were playing a bunch of big bodies and they tend to wear you down. But I felt we ran so well we wore them out.”
Sophomore guard Sky Priester shut down Vikings top scorer Quinn Benchley for much of the game.
“Sky’s defense was the key to the win,” said Barbot, who will play at College of Charleston in the fall. “She was so intense. All our younger players contributed on defense.”
Barbot had to go to the bench with two early fouls and missed half of the first quarter and some of the second.
“I had a slow start but got back in there and shot much better in the second half,” Barbot said. “This was huge to get back-to-back titles for our school and all the people who support our team. We have an amazing fan base and the atmosphere in the big gym was great. We didn’t get to go to the state Federation tournament last year because it was canceled. Now we want to win it all.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
