Amy Stryjewski, hands on hips, takes a breather during her 22-point outing.
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By Mike Buchanan
 

Amy Stryjewski and Cara Facchina delivered a one-two punch that sent the opponents reeling, as the pair combined for 38 points to lead Mount de Sales to a 62-43 IAAM B-Conference road win over John Carroll, Wednesday in Bel Air.

Stryjewski poured in 14 points to lead the Sailors to an 11-point lead at the half, and then Facchina took over with 11-second-half points to help seal the win.

It was a battle for second place in the B, with both teams trailing front-running Severn. In fact, John Carroll had just come off of a 54-26 loss at Severn the day before.

Coach Trish Armstrong’s Mount de Sales team improved to 6-2 (11-6 overall), winning its fourth league game in a row, and cementing its hold on second place.  John Cooney’s John Carroll team dropped to 4-4 (8-10 overall); the loss dropped JC into fourth place, as Pallotti took over the third spot for now at 5-4 with a win.

Stryjewski wasted little time in getting started. The junior guard broke an early 2-2 tie with back-to-back scores, a two just inside the arc and then followed that on the next trip with a three-pointer from the right wing to give her team a 7-2 lead.

She continued with the hot hand, getting a two and another three, giving her 10 straight points in the span of three minutes and her team a 12-5 lead. Late in the quarter, the Sailors scored on a beautiful play; senior Anne Tucker, the in-bounder, threw a perfect baseball pass to beat the Patriot press on the back end, and Facchina caught the pass in stride and converted the lay-up with a soft kiss off the glass.

Freshman Hannah Schmidt scored at the buzzer and the Sailors were off and running with a 22-12 lead at the quarter break.

 But Armstrong’s squad went from hot to cold in the blink of an eye, going scoreless for three and a half minutes of the second quarter. That drought allowed the Patriots to creep back into the game.

Junior guard Cori Gray hit the first bucket of the second period and senior Anne Brockmeyer nailed a long three to give the Patriots five quick points and cut the deficit to 22-17.

Anne Skomba made one of two free throws for MDS to break the cold spell at the 4:35 mark. After the teams traded baskets, Stryjewski regained the scoring touch and nailed another trey from the wing and then made one of two free throws to make it a 32-19 game. JC got the final basket, but faced a 32-21 deficit going into the break.

After John Carroll scored six of the first eight points of the second half, pulling to within seven, Facchina took up where Stryjewski left off. The talented sophomore guard scored back-to-back baskets to make it a double-digit lead again.

Mount de Sales didn’t let the hosts get too close, but also didn’t put them away, and held a 49-35 lead at the end of three. JC made mini runs, but couldn’t get that extended run to make it a close game.

“The long run just didn’t materialize,” said Cooney. “We played at Severn yesterday and that may have taken a little wind out of the sails. We were down only 20-17 at the half in that one, but they got hot from outside and we didn’t adjust. It’s tough playing Severn and Mount de Sales back-to-back. We’re in a little bit of a down spell right now; we just have to right the ship.”

With John Carroll needing a run early in the fourth, Facchina came up big again. On an underneath out-of-bounds play, she stepped back off a stack set-up and swished a three from the top of the key, pushing the lead back up to 13.

Then Batman and Robin teamed up, as Stryjewski hit a jumper and a lay-up off a steal, and Facchina made a free throw and added a perfect pass to Katie    Stryjewski, Amy’s sister, for two of her six points and the final points of an 18-point win.

Stryjewski and Facchina both had the hot hand from downtown, each making three three-pointers. When asked about the threes after the game, Stryjewski jokingly said, “They were lucky,” to which Coach Williams said, “She shoots like that all the time.” Differing opinions, but Williams will take that production any day, lucky or not.

On the hot start in the opening quarter, posting 22 points, Stryjewski said “We’re not a second-half team, so it’s important for us to come out strong in the beginning. We hit our little runs early, and then had that down spell in the second, maybe a little fatigue.”

With the Stryjewskis combining for 28, and Facchina adding 16, the trio finished with 44 points on the night to lead the Sailor offense. Senior Nicole Clarke led John Carroll with 14 points, while Brockmeyer added 10.

The Patriots are off for a full week and resume play versus Severn at home next Wednesday, and then host Chapelgate Chistian on Friday. Mount de Sales travels to Pallotti on Friday, visits NDP on Monday for a non-conference contest and then hosts Severn next Friday.

Williams added, post-game, “We’re so young, we have our ups and downs, and our captains do a good job of settling us down. This was big, being able to steal a win on the road. I’ve said before that every team in this league scares me. Anybody can beat anybody, even with Severn obviously at the top. This win gives us a little cushion in second, but there’s a lot left to play.”

These two teams meet again on February 4, in Catonsville. Cooney has time to plan before then, but he will have to come up with a plan to try and contain Stryjewski and Facchina.

Mount de Sales 62, John Carroll 43

MdS    22    10    17    13   --   62
JC       12      9    14      8   --   43

MdS – Facchina 16, K. Stryjewski 6, Skomba 6, Tucker 4, Schmidt 4, Bishop 4, A. Stryjewski 22. Totals 23 12-17 62.
JC – Peusch 3, Brockmeyer 10, Smith 2, Gray 6, Puopolo 4, Clarke 14, Wolfe 2, O’Hara 2. Totals 20 3-6 43.
Half: MdS, 32-21.