The basketball season, which started in November, has now come to a conclusion. With only the state tournament left, the girls had a winning record of 13 wins and 7 losses. The team put a lot of hours into practice nearly everyday, and played some excellent overall games. The team motto, “We Not Me,” instituted by Head Coach Mark Tobin, was clearly demonstrated during games as each girl played to the best of her ability for her team.
At the beginning of the season, the team played in a few scrimmage games which were only for practice and did not count towards their overall record. They played very well, even completely shutting out some teams. The first game that counted was in Princeton, New Jersey at The Hun School. The Huns put out a strong team, and our girls managed to stick with them the entire game. The faced criticisms as Jim Charles, a girls basketball journalist, made it blatantly that clear he did not believe any Padua player could score twenty points against a quality team. Our girls successfully refuted such claims when Padua’s very own Emma Matthews managed to score twenty-one points, five of which were three pointers. He later wrote an apology on his website to Emma and congratulated her on such a good game. In their third season game, against Tower Hill, Padua Senior Victoria Boyd won the ‘Impact Player of the Week’ award for the effort and skill she demonstrated in the game.
As Padua won the next couple of games and came together as a team, other schools like St. Mark’s, St. Elizabeth’s, Caravel, and DMA, started to realize that our team was a real contender for the state tournament. Padua’s best game was on Monday, February 20. On this night, they played their most exciting game against rival team St. Mark’s. Not only did this game showcase the team’s abilities as basketball players, it was also the single most rewarding game of the season. Padua started the game ready to play. The starting lineup was different than in previous games. Julianne Lambert, Monica Dawyot, Victoria Boyd, Bridget Novielli, and Emma Matthews went out and challenged every shot, lay-up, offensive play, and defense the Spartans put out there. At the end of the first quarter, they were up 7-2. Substitutions were made throughout the game when girls got in foul trouble or just needed a minute to rest. At the end of the half, they were tied, fourteen all. When the team came back out, they were fired up and anyone could see they wanted the win. The team out-hustled St. Mark’s for rebounds and loose balls. They made good passes throughout the game, although there was one play where neither team could keep the ball for more than a few seconds. At the end of the third quarter it was 19-16, with Padua holding on to the lead. This is one of the lowest scoring varsity games in awhile, with the most points scored in the fourth quarter, ending the game 35-26. Padua had held on for the win.
Padua made it to the second round in the State Tournament. They played at Padua Academy against Dover. At halftime, the game was close, Padua was only winning by a few points. When the team came back out to play in the third quarter, they were ready to win. Their aggressive defense caused Dover to have eighteen turnovers in one quarter. They outscored Dover 21-3 in the third. The intensity levels on both offense and defense were very high, and Dover collapsed and fell apart. Meanwhile, the girls on the Padua team were showing what real teamwork, cooperation, and trust in your teammates really look like. The girls won, 55-42, and for the first time in a long time, the team was headed to the Bob for quarterfinals. At the quarterfinals, Padua played Ursuline for the third time this season. They put out a good team effort, but Ursuline pulled away every time Padua got closer. The final score was 67-42. While Padua did not take the win in this final game, they played hard, had an amazing season, and made us proud with a winning record.
Julianne Lambert and Victoria Boyd are currently on the 2012 Blue Girls Basketball Team for Blue Gold game.
