COAL TOWNSHIP — Abbey Whildin and Ashley Fannick know how to win basketball games.
With their team battling injuries and missing key players from the lineup, the two Marian senior guards came through when the Fillies needed them the most.
Whildin and Fannick combined to shoot 16-of-19 from the foul line as the Fillies fended off Lourdes 41-37 to win the championship of the 18th annual Red Raider Tip-Off Classic on Saturday at Lourdes High School.
Whildin finished with a game-high 19 points and Fannick added 13 for Marian.
The Fillies opened the game red-hot, building a 15-5 lead after one quarter and taking a 24-10 lead into intermission.
Lourdes answered with a switch to a man-to-man defense in the second half and the defensive change sparked the Red Raiders’ comeback.
“There’s no doubt it caused them some problems,” Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said of the defensive switch. “We’ve probably played more man-to-man defense in our scrimmages and two games than we have in the past three or four years total. That’s because we have the personnel to do it.”
The defensive switch harassed the Fillies into 18 turnovers, and Marian took just eight shots from the floor in the second half and made just one.
But it also eventually got Lourdes into foul trouble, as well. Whildin hit 8-of-11 foul shots and Fannick made all eight of her attempts.
Marian (2-0) scored all 14 of its fourth-quarter points at the foul line, hitting 14-of-17 shots. By comparison Lourdes, although it finished 8-for-15 from the line, made just one of its first seven in falling behind.
“Yes, we definitely did (dig a hole),” Klembara said.
The Red Raiders also had trouble finding consistency offensively. Selina Albert and Carmella Bickel each scored nine points, and Caity Funk added eight, respectively. All of Bickel’s points came in the second half after she had trouble with Marian’s defensive pressure in the first half.
Klembara said that he was pleased overall with what his team did in the first two games.
“I think Selina Albert, as a freshman, had a much better second game than her first, which is a plus,” he said. “Plus Krissy Komara did, too. They were both solid, but both can play better. But we’re going to have to get more scoring off our first two players off the bench. I don’t think either one of them scored in either game, and if that’s going to be the case, no one is going to defend them.
“I’m proud of the girls for the way they battled back. They have nothing to be ashamed of. But we have a lot of work to do, too.”
Game Summary
Red Raider Tip-Off Tournament
Championship Game
At Lourdes High School
MARIAN (41) — Whildin 4 8-11 19, Fannick 2 8-8 13, Correale 1 0-0 2, Shaud 1 2-3 4, Agosti 0 0-0 0, Mahon 0 0-0 0, Capparell 0 0-0 0, Raabe 0 0-0 0, Karnish 1 1-3 3. Totals 9 19-25 41.
LOURDES (37) — K. Komara 3 0-0 7, Trell 1 1-5 4, Krebs 0 0-0 0, Khanna 0 0-2 0, Bickel 3 3-4 9, Funk 2 4-4 8, Albert 4 0-0 9. Totals 13 8-15 37.
Marian (2-0) 15 9 3 14 — 41 Lourdes (1-1) 5 5 10 17 — 37
3-point FGs: Whildin 3, Fannick, Komara, Trell, Albert