St Agens Won’t Be Denied

This was my first chance to see St. Agnes in action as they traveled to TABC Top 25 ranked St. Pius for a district match-up. The game started off slowly; in fact it was scoreless until Michelle Nowkedi hit a field goal a little under the four minute mark. Nwokedi managed to score 5 points in the quarter and St. Agnes was up by 7 with time running out, then Rhea Levy hit a three pointer at the buzzer closing the quarter 9-5. An Alexis Chandler “and one”, a bucket from Danielle Parks along with another three from Levy ignited a 9-0 run as Pius took the lead 14-9. St. Agnes turned it around and went on a run themselves behind “Twin Towers” Nwokedi and Amber Cooper and went into the half leading 27-19, the “Towers” combining for 18 points, while Levy and Parks combined for 14.

Parks stayed hot for Pius in the third quarter, as did the “Towers” as the gap was closed to three before a Nwokedi “and one” but Chandler’s two free throws at the end of the quarter kept St. Pius close, only down by four, 36-32. Cooper hit a three and stretched the lead to 8 in the fourth quarter but St. Pius wouldn’t quit and two free throws from both Chandler and Jennifer Lirette kept them in striking distance. Nwokedi had at least 6 blocks and on one possession, the freshman blocked a shot and went coast to coast for a score. St Pius wasn’t finished and after a Parks three, along with two free throws from Jasmine Hunt, the lead was cut to one.

Nwokedi then scored what should have been an “and one” attempt, however the bucket was negated by one of the most questionable charges I have seen in my life. More scoring from Parks, but the back breaker came from Brittany Stepanski and a Hunt free throw sent the game into overtime. Lindsay Caram had been steady the whole game and she came up big in overtime as St. Pius pulled off the victory. Parks led all scorers with 20, while Hunt added 10 for the Panthers. Cooper led the Tigers with 16, followed by Nwokedi with 15 and Caram’s 10.