A dominant postseason run for Bishop Garrigan continued on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, as the Golden Bears ran away with a 77-42 victory over Burlington Notre Dame.
The focus for Bishop Garrigan all week going into the game was how to prevent three pointers from a team that came in shooting over 33% on threes. The focus on running Burlington Notre Dame shooters off the line and closing out with high hands worked, as the Nikes were just 2/11 from three point range.
Bishop Garrigan head coach Brandon Schwab says that after scouting Burlington Notre Dame, he saw they had never faced a man to man defensive team this year.
A key defensive matchup for Bishop Garrigan was Molly Joyce guarding Burlington Notre Dame’s leading scorer Megan Harrell. Although Joyce gave up a few inches in size, Coach Schwab says she used her quickness to have success in that matchup.
Harrell scored 10 points on 3/9 shooting and also had five turnovers. Joyce scored 25 points and added seven steals, six assists, and five rebounds to an impressive stat line.
The Golden Bears were also able to force 22 turnovers and score 29 points off of those turnovers. Freshman Zoe Montag says the team did their homework to prepare a defensive gameplan.
Audi Crooks led the way for Bishop Garrigan with 32 points, doing it with an efficient 15/18 shooting night. After a couple early turnovers while trying to get the basketball inside to Crooks, the Golden Bears adjusted and found a way to get Crooks the ball, helping her record her third 30 point game of the postseason.
Bishop Garrigan continued their dominant rebounding, compiling a 39-26 edge on the boards. The Golden Bears used a rebounding by committee approach, as Abbie Capesius and Meredith Tigges both had 8 boards, while Crooks grabbed 7.
Capesius helped provide an early jump start to the offense, as she scored all 12 of her points in the first half, including 3s on back to back possessions, one of which was an attempted lob to Crooks that sailed over her head but swished perfectly into the basket.
The defense of Capesius was a huge part of the Bishop Garrigan victory as well, as Capesius primarily defended Reagan Engberg, who came in averaging over 10 points per game but finished the night with zero.
Abby Korschgen led the Nikes with 13 points in the loss, as Burlington Notre Dame ends the season with a final record of 23-1.
With the win, Bishop Garrigan will face North Linn on Friday at 3:15, for a chance to qualify for the state title game for the third season in a row. The Lynx defeated conference rival Springville 58-56 to advance to the semifinal round.
Pregame coverage of Friday afternoon’s game will start at 2:55 on KLGA 92.7 FM.
