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MRH Girls Take 2nd At Cardinal Ritter Tourney

Senior Antonia Lee had 14 points and was named to the all-tournament team, but it wasn't enough to overcome a rough start for MRH in what became a 58-43 loss to Cardinal Ritter.

ST. LOUIS – The girls basketball team’s magnificent run through the Cardinal Ritter Christmas Tournament ended in not so exhilarating fashion Wednesday night, as the Blue Devils lost the championship game 58-43, to the tournament host Cardinal Ritter.

MRH, which is now 5-4 on the season, nabbed two of its best wins of the season on Monday and Tuesday to reach the championship game, but couldn’t overcome a rough start against red-hot Ritter, which has now won four in a row.

“I definitely think it was nerves,” MRH head coach Phil Crawford said. “This was our first championship game, and the girls were a little bit nervous.”

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And that was clearly a problem in the early going for MRH, which had a number of bad turnovers and even worse shot attempts, as the Lions leaped out to a 16-2 lead before the Blue Devils could even catch their breath.

“I just have to credit Cardinal Ritter,” Crawford said. “They came ready to play. Their press is incredible, and it just caused our girls a lot of problems.”

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It took through the second quarter before MRH could finally settle down, but once the Devils did, they began to cut into Cardinal Ritter’s lead.

Junior center Brittney Bell played a key role in the comeback for MRH, scoring six of her 11 points and grabbing several critical rebounds, that allowed MRH to cut the Cardinal Ritter lead to nine points midway through the third quarter.

"She doesn’t even know how good she can be," Crawford said. "This is her first year playing basketball, and she means so much to us.”

Unfortunately, nine points was as close as MRH would get, as Ritter extended its edge back to 16 points by the end of the third quarter, and stretched it out to 18 points after scoring the first basket of the fourth quarter.

But rather than roll over and die, the fourth quarter was when MRH really got going.

The Blue Devils came out of a timeout and reeled off an 11-2 run, sparked by four free throws and a driving layup by senior Antonia Lee that pulled MRH to within nine points with just under five minutes left in the game.

Ritter ended any thoughts of a miracle comeback in the next three minutes, with an 8-2 run that made the score 54-38, and eventually closed out the night with a series of free throws that helped the Lions win their holiday tournament for the second time in three years.

Despite not winning the championship, MRH’s performance was still impressive.

On Monday, the Devils earned their biggest win of the season, with a 61-21 trouncing of Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC. Senior Abby Hodson had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way.

Then on Tuesday, MRH pulled off what might have been its most exciting victory of the season, a 48-46 come-from-behind win over tournament favorite Gateway Tech, thanks to a brilliant, 19-point effort by Lee, who was unanimously named to the all-tournament team.

“There’s no reason why she shouldn’t be on every all-tournament team," Crawford said. "She’s a great leader for us. I’m really proud of her as a young lady as well.”

The Blue Devils now have some well-deserved days off before a conference game on Jan. 4 at Bayless at 5:30.

It's one of three straight road games for MRH to start the new year (Jan. 6 at Valley Park then Jan. 13 at Hancock), before a home game on Jan. 18 against Affton.

 

MAPLEWOOD RICHMOND HEIGHTS LADY BLUE DEVILS REMAINING BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

  • 1/4       at Bayless, 5:30 pm
  • 1/6       at Valley Park, 6:30 pm
  • 1/13     at Hancock, 6:30 pm
  • 1/18     vs. Affton, 6 pm
  • 1/23     vs. Brentwood, 6:30 pm
  • 1/31     vs. Crossroads, 4 pm
  • 2/3       vs. Valley Park, 5:30 pm
  • 2/7       vs. Hancock, 6:30 pm
  • 2/8       vs. Clayton, 5:30 pm
  • 2/10     vs. Bayless, 5 pm
  • 2/15     at Brentwood, 6 pm
  • 2/16     at Northwest Academy, 5 pm
  • 2/17     vs. Crossroads, 5:30 pm
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