Wise keeps Vincentian Academy girls basketball team from suffering huge upset
The legend that is Brenna Wise continues.
Held out of the first half of Saturday's PIAA Class A first-round girls basketball game with Kane at North Hills High, Wise came off the bench with seven minutes left in the third quarter, put the Royals on her back and led them to a 62-60 overtime victory over the Wolves.
What did Wise do in 19 minutes of basketball?
The more correct question would be what didn't she do? Everywhere one looked, Wise was making a huge contribution that allowed Vincentian's season to continue and prevented the Royals from being the first WPIAL Class A girls champion since the 1987 team from Monaca to lose a first-round game in the PIAA tournament.
Wise made up for any time she lost by not playing in the first half by leading her team with 16 points, 13 steals and 12 rebounds.
Why did Vincentian Academy coach Ron Moncrief keep her on the bench for so long? Well, the 6-0 freshman forward from Cranberry is still not fully recovered from a high ankle sprain that kept her out of the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the WPIAL tournament.
"I wanted to protect her," Moncrief said. "I never want to put a player in a situation where they can jeopardize their injury more. But she was ready to go, and I told her before the game that we'd get her in there if we needed her. I was trying to see if we could get by without her and give her some extra rest in the game."
But that gameplan quickly went awry as the perimeter game which had boosted the Royals in victories over Fort Cherry and North Catholic in the WPIAL semifinal and championship games suddenly went cold.
"I think our girls fell in love with the (3-point goal) too much," he said. "We set records in the (WPIAL) semifinal and final game, and they fell in love with the 3-point goal too much. I told them at halftime that if the shots weren't falling, that's fine: attack the rim and see what happens."
What also happened was Wise's presence in the game that took the Royals off life support, particularly in the fourth quarter where Wise scored the last four points in an 8-0 run that brought them back from the brink of defeat. Her layup with five seconds tied the game at 50-50, sending it to overtime. And she scored four of the Royals' 12 points in overtime and ended the Wolves' hopes to score an upset by stealing the ball in the Royals' backcourt and dribbling out the clock to preserve the victory and extend the team's season.
"She plays with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Moncrief said. "Any time she's in the game, she makes things happen on the offensive end and defensive end and in rebounding the ball. She makes things happen. When she's on the court, you can tell there's a big difference (with the team)."
Vincentian meets Elk County Catholic at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a second-round game at Punxsutawney Area High School.
Moncrief said the team might have been rusty with a week-long layoff following its WPIAL Class A championship victory over North Catholic, and he doesn't want a reprise of that performance on Wednesday night.
"Hopefully, this close win will wake our girls up," he said. "We can be beaten if we don't come to play. With our style of basketball, no one's going to lay down for us. If we want to win, we have to make things happen and take it."
Moncrief said he would give his players Sunday off before getting back to work today. But he didn't give himself that luxury.
"They will rest," he said. "I won't. I need to prepare my team better."
Held out of the first half of Saturday's PIAA Class A first-round girls basketball game with Kane at North Hills High, Wise came off the bench with seven minutes left in the third quarter, put the Royals on her back and led them to a 62-60 overtime victory over the Wolves.
What did Wise do in 19 minutes of basketball?
The more correct question would be what didn't she do? Everywhere one looked, Wise was making a huge contribution that allowed Vincentian's season to continue and prevented the Royals from being the first WPIAL Class A girls champion since the 1987 team from Monaca to lose a first-round game in the PIAA tournament.
Wise made up for any time she lost by not playing in the first half by leading her team with 16 points, 13 steals and 12 rebounds.
Why did Vincentian Academy coach Ron Moncrief keep her on the bench for so long? Well, the 6-0 freshman forward from Cranberry is still not fully recovered from a high ankle sprain that kept her out of the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the WPIAL tournament.
"I wanted to protect her," Moncrief said. "I never want to put a player in a situation where they can jeopardize their injury more. But she was ready to go, and I told her before the game that we'd get her in there if we needed her. I was trying to see if we could get by without her and give her some extra rest in the game."
But that gameplan quickly went awry as the perimeter game which had boosted the Royals in victories over Fort Cherry and North Catholic in the WPIAL semifinal and championship games suddenly went cold.
"I think our girls fell in love with the (3-point goal) too much," he said. "We set records in the (WPIAL) semifinal and final game, and they fell in love with the 3-point goal too much. I told them at halftime that if the shots weren't falling, that's fine: attack the rim and see what happens."
What also happened was Wise's presence in the game that took the Royals off life support, particularly in the fourth quarter where Wise scored the last four points in an 8-0 run that brought them back from the brink of defeat. Her layup with five seconds tied the game at 50-50, sending it to overtime. And she scored four of the Royals' 12 points in overtime and ended the Wolves' hopes to score an upset by stealing the ball in the Royals' backcourt and dribbling out the clock to preserve the victory and extend the team's season.
"She plays with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Moncrief said. "Any time she's in the game, she makes things happen on the offensive end and defensive end and in rebounding the ball. She makes things happen. When she's on the court, you can tell there's a big difference (with the team)."
Vincentian meets Elk County Catholic at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a second-round game at Punxsutawney Area High School.
Moncrief said the team might have been rusty with a week-long layoff following its WPIAL Class A championship victory over North Catholic, and he doesn't want a reprise of that performance on Wednesday night.
"Hopefully, this close win will wake our girls up," he said. "We can be beaten if we don't come to play. With our style of basketball, no one's going to lay down for us. If we want to win, we have to make things happen and take it."
Moncrief said he would give his players Sunday off before getting back to work today. But he didn't give himself that luxury.
"They will rest," he said. "I won't. I need to prepare my team better."
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