St. Vincent’s Cinderella run ends in Class 2 Sectionals

PARK HILLS — The young St. Vincent girls' basketball team had a ball throughout the season.

Coming off a 10-17 season the previous year, The Lady Indians put on their glass slippers and made a royal rush through their first district championship since 2013, overcoming Oran, a 9-time defending champion, in overtime last week.

But the clock struck midnight during the fourth quarter. Their stallion offense turned into a pumpkin and a 13-0 run ended their Cinderella run in a heartbreaking 60-51 loss to New Haven in Class 2 Sectional round on Tuesday in Park Hills.

“We had four turnovers in a row and it was stupid little stuff, and we were only losing by four,” St. Vincent head coach Mel Kirn said. “Then they came down and hit a three to put them up by seven. Then we made another turnover and then we fouled them and then they went up by nine.”

The Lady Indians — a team comprised of one upperclassman, four sophomores and six freshmen — more than maximized their potential and battled until the final buzzer

“It's just the young mistakes right now,” Kirn said, “but I wouldn't trade this team for nothing because they're hustlers. If you notice there are 6.6 seconds left on the clock and our girls are still busting down the court trying to score, so we don't quit.”

Sophomore Alexandra Patrick led the Lady Indians with 23 points including four baskets from the three-point line and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Freshman Lana Adams also scored 14 points. They were the main constant source of scoring for St. Vincent, who led 31-30 at halftime and went into the fourth quarter tied 40-40.

Their enchanted run came to an end without a fairy tale ending, but their story is one that deserves the top shelf of the St. Vincent library.

“Our No. 1 goal was winning conference, and we fell nine points short when we lost to St. Pius X,” Kirn said. “Then we thought, well our next goal is district so we got to win districts. But our girls did something this year that no St. Vincent team has ever done; we've won 24 games, and we only lost four. The other one was 20-5, so they did two things, we didn't lose a lot and we won a lot. I don't think any coach wouldn’t be happy with the 24-4 record. I really do.”