Dolphins beat Marian in supers, finish second in state tourney

by Scott Fredericks

A game-winning shot by Chanise Jenkins at the buzzer sent the Whitney Young girls basketball team to state last year with a thrilling 78-76 win in double overtime over Marian Catholic.

The Dolphins made sure they didn’t need late heroics this time around.

Tied at 29 at halftime, Whitney Young dominated the second half to cruise to a 74-57 victory in the St. Xavier University Class 4A supersectional on March 1.

The smaller Dolphins dominated the glass, outrebounding the Spartans 48 to 26. Young had 20 offensive boards, which helped key a strong third-quarter effort.

“I don’t know what was wrong with us in the first half,” said Young Coach Corry Irvin. “We tried doing something different in the first half, and we didn’t follow our game plan. In the second half, we went back to playing the way we normally do.

“We have been stressing rebounding the last month. We are a small team, so we need all five girls crashing the glass like we did tonight.”

Freshman guard Linnae Harper and senior forward Gillian Asque were at the forefront of the domination on the boards. Harper (22 points) and Asque (eight) finished with 17 and 12 rebounds, respectively.

Junior guard Kiana Johnson (19 points, five assists and three steals), sophomore guard Alexis Lloyd (12 points, five rebounds and three assists) and junior guard Bryeasha Blair (11 points) also reached double figures in the scoring column.

“I watched the game from the stands last year, and it was so close; so my goal was to play hard from the beginning to the end because I didn’t want to lose,” said Harper. “They were taller than us, so we just had to box out. I put the butt to the gut and worked hard to get every rebound I could.”

Young’s defensive pressure also gave Marian fits in the third quarter. The Dolphins’ press forced several turnovers, but it was the rebounding that made the biggest difference in the outcome.

Johnson drained a three on the fourth shot of one possession to put the Dolphins up 49-36 with a minute left in the quarter. Harper had two offensive boards, with Asque grabbing the other during the possession.

“I didn’t do anything for my team in the first half. I had to step up and help us win this game for our seniors,” said Johnson.

“We really picked up our defense in the third quarter to open up the game. Our offense feeds off of our defense, so it was important to turn it on.”

Whitney Young (27-2) outscored Marian 21-9 in the decisive third quarter.

The Dolphins trailed 29-22 with a minute left in the opening half before finishing it on a 7-0 run that concluded with Asque’s lay-up at the buzzer.

The momentum had shifted.

“Coach Irvin knew we weren’t playing the way we had to play. All I remember her telling us at halftime was let’s go. We all knew this was our time to do it, so we came out with that intensity in the second half,” said Asque. “Last year was such a stressful game, and we were lucky to hit a shot like that to win the game. We didn’t want to be in that position again.”

The Dolphins lead ballooned to as many as 26 in the fourth quarter.

Emily Kobel (19 points) and Jasmine Johnson (18) led Marian Catholic (27-8).

Young beat Fenwick in the state semifinals four days later but fell 60-50 to Bolingbrook in the Class 4A state championship on March 6 at Redbird Arena.

This is part of the March 10, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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