St. Vincent 'D' keeps Panthers winless

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- In a decisive third quarter between two teams that brought more defense than offense to the table, the St. Vincent girls basketball team accomplished a rare feat.

It held Meadow Heights to three points on 1-of-17 shooting in the quarter and took control of a game that was tied at halftime to pull out a 40-34 victory at St. Vincent on Monday night.

"Our girls moved well," St. Vincent coach Terry Wengert said. "They were pretty observant of what the others were doing, they did a little talking to each other. They did a good job."

The Indians (3-2) deployed a 2-1-2 zone and it was more than effective against the cold-shooting Panthers (0-5).

Meadow Heights missed its first five shots of the third quarter but took a 24-22 lead on a Kiana Hotop 3-pointer with just under five minutes remaining in the period.

It was the last basket the Panthers would make as they missed their last 11.

"We had trouble scoring," Meadow Heights coach Charlie Doublin said. "I don't know, we just have to figure out how to get some points."

Fortunately for Meadow Heights, St. Vincent had a slow-moving offense in the third as well.

The Indians managed just five points on 2-of-5 shooting and made one free throw.

St. Vincent’s Katie Mattingly, right and Meadow Heights’ Alaina Lochirco go after a loose ball during the Indians’ 40-34 win over the Panthers on Monday at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo.

The Indians only attempted five shots in the quarter due to turnovers.

The Panthers used a full-court press that at times gave the Indians fits.

"That's what we try to live by," Doublin said about the press. "We just couldn't convert once we got a turnover."

The result was a 26-24 lead going into the fourth for St. Vincent, despite holding the Panthers to just one field goal in the third.

"It sped us up," Wengert said about the Panthers' press. "We talked and talked and talked about once you break it then you have to come down, and if we'll run the offense then we're going to get a good look, and we had trouble doing that. It's something we need to work on, that comes with experience."

The Indians used a 5-0 spurt to open the fourth and essentially ended the Panthers' hopes.

"We finally settled down a little bit," Wengert said. "When we ran our offense, we got some open looks and hit a few free throws that we didn't hit the first half."

The main offensive weapon for St. Vincent was 5-foot-10 Katie Mattingly.

Mattingly finished with a game-high 22 points.

"I guess I've been working a lot more on going to the basket a lot stronger," Mattingly said. "Not really going through people, but not stopping and not being hesitant."

Mattingly was a force in the middle, knocking down 8-footers consistently and making free throws down the stretch.

The senior post was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

"She works real hard," Wengert said. "She always has. She likes to play and she's a good kid."

Meadow Heights saw a glimmer of hope when Hayley Thorne hit a jumper in the paint to cut the lead to 31-26 with 4 minutes, 17 seconds remaining, but Mattingly scored the next four points to stretch the lead to 35-26.

"She's a little bigger than our big girls," Doublin said. "So it helps to have that size."

The two squads traded baskets in the first half.

St. Vincent trailed 9-7 before it went on a 6-0 run over the remainder of the first quarter. The Indians netted the first basket of the second period to go up 15-9.

St. Vincent moved ahead 17-10 on a jumper by Courtney Brown before Meadow Heights used an 8-1 run to pull even at 18-18. The teams traded baskets before going into half tied at 21.

St. Vincent's zone took over in the second half.

"They don't have the size that we do," Mattingly said. "Not that we're huge, but they didn't really have anyone as tall as us. We knew they had some 3-point shooters and our outside blocks did a really good job on getting out."

Meadow Heights 9 12 3 10 -- 34

St. Vincent 13 8 5 14 -- 40

MEADOW HEIGHTS (34) -- Kylee Whitener 4, Abi Bristow 6, Kiana Hotop 10, Emma Cook 1, Hayley Thorne 13. FG 13, FT 4-7, F 17. (3-pointers: Bristow 2, Hotop 2. Fouled out: Thorne.)

ST. VINCENT (40) -- Kylie Baer 2, Courtney Brown 2, Alexana Koishor 5, Rachel Mudd 4, Casey Unterreiner 4, Katie Mattingly 22, Abby Ruessler 1. FG 14, FT 12-25, F 7. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)