SV girls falter late in loss to New Haven in sectionals

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As the expression goes: “All good things come to an end.”
TheSt. Vincent girls basketball team felt those emotions on Tuesday.
The Indians made several key mistakes late and New Haven took advantage, handing St. Vincent a 60-51 loss in the Class 2 Sectionals at Park Hills Central High School.
St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn was disappointed with the loss in the moment, but reflected on the accomplishments of his team throughout the season as the Indians finished with a record of 24-4, which was the most victories and least losses of any team in program history.
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.”
Sophomore Allie 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.

St. Vincent and New Haven went back and forth throughout the entire game, which was evident as the Indians led 31-30 at halftime and went into the fourth quarter tied 40-40.
Cailyn Prost made a three-pointer with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter to narrow a defcit to 47-46.
However, that’s when the game turned. Turnovers and missed shots quickly turned into a 10-0 New Haven run that gave them all the momentum.
Patrick made a three-pointer with 55 seconds left in the game, which were the first points for the Indians in more than three minutes.
“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 which had of one upperclassman, four sophomores and six freshmen -- more than maximized their potential and battled until the final buzzer, and showed what they could do throughout the game.Although Kirn felt the team showed its inexpereince late in the game.
“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.”