SCRANTON – Kaeli Romanowski took off on a full sprint when she saw Jenna Sloan tipped the ball to the opposite end of the court.
At first glance, there was no way the University of Scranton senior was going to track it down. That ball was that far ahead of the Western Wayne graduate.
That’s why looks are deceiving.
Romanowski managed to track it down right before hitting the out-of-bounds stripe, fully-extending to grab it, and had the presence to fling the ball off the hip of a Catholic player to give the Lady Royals’ possession.
“We go into every game thinking tenacity and togetherness,” Romanowski said. “So that relentless pressure, creating chaos and getting the opponent to play the opposite way that they want, is kind of our motto. We are giving everything we have on every single possession.”
That one play symbolized Scranton’s defensive intensity Thursday night inside the John Long Center.
It was suffocating.
The Lady Royals held Catholic to just 13 points in the second half as the second-ranked team in NCAA Division III kept its undefeated season alive with a 74-36 win in the Landmark Conference semifinals.
Scranton (26-0) will stay home for Saturday’s 2 p.m. Landmark Championship where it meets up with Elizabethtown, a 68-61 winner over Susquehanna in the other semifinal Thursday.
“We try to just focus on one play at a time,” Scranton coach Ben O’Brien said. “Leading into the game, there are some nerves and anxiety. But once we get into the game, and we just put all of our attention to the possession in front of us, it kind of alleviates a lot of the pressure for the players.”
There’s a saying on the back of the Lady Royals’ warm-up T-shirts. It reads, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Well, if Scranton brings the defense like it did Thursday night, the team could be on track to making a long run through the NCAA Tournament.
Scranton won 24 of its 26 games by more than 20 points, holding opponents to less than 50 points in all but seven.
Catholic (18-9) managed to shoot just 22% in the third quarter as an 11-0 Scranton run built the lead up to 50-25 before Abington Heights graduate Anna Scoblick’s layup snapped a nearly six-minute Cardinal scoring drought.
It didn’t get better for the Washington D.C. school in the fourth quarter, hitting just 1 of 14 from the field in the fourth quarter, including an 0-fer from 3-point range.
Catholic managed just nine second-half points against Scranton’s starters before O’Brien emptied his bench to get some reserves valuable playoff minutes.
“Our defense, really, starts with Kaeli out on top,” O’Brien said. “The kind of pressure that she puts on people is unbelievable. But we have players that are committed to playing defense for 40 minutes, and on every single possession. I thought tonight was no different. That play Kaeli made, that epitomizes our team. That was a huge turning point for us. She’s been providing those plays since she’s been here.”
For Romanowski and classmate Kaci Kranson, it’s a bittersweet time of the year.
On one hand, the postseason serves as a culmination of a regular-season where Scranton went 25-0, dominated most of its games, and picked up a win over Division I ACC school Pittsburgh.
Yet, both local products understand that one loss in the NCAA Tournament signals the end of their Lady Royal careers.
Kranson was on fire in the first quarter, dropping nine points through the nylon as a 13-2 run busted open a 9-8 game as Scranton took a 24-15 lead into the second quarter.
The Holy Cross graduate ended the game one rebound short of a double-double, finishing with a game-high 15 points, and pulling down nine boards.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I’ve been a little girl, so knowing that these are the last couple games that I will ever play is something that I always cherish,” Kranson said. “But also, it motivates me, and the rest of the girls, because we have a special group of talented basketball players. We just want to make it as far as we can. That’s the motivation every day in practice.”
It was freshman Sophia Talutto who was fearless in the second quarter.
Catholic attempted to mount a comeback as Carly Catania’s wing 3-pointer trimmed the lead to 11 with 1:43 left in the first half. But Talutto, who was 5 of 7 in the first half off the bench, hit a wide-open trifecta, and floated a little tear-dropper through the net right before the halftime-horn sounded as the 5-0 Talutto run gave Scranton a 16-point lead at the break.
The 11-0 run to start the second half increased the Scranton lead to 50-23.
“The past four years, I’ve been incredibly lucky to be on such incredible teams. I just thinking we’ve ramped up our energy, intensity and tenacity,” Kranson said. “We pride ourselves on the defense first. Every girl is giving it their all on defense, and it shows out there.”
Scranton put five in double figures. In addition to Kranson’s 15, Katie Gorski ended with 14, and Elizabeth Bennett dropped 13. Meghan Lamanna hit three trifectas in her 12-point night, while Talutto ended with 11 points and four assists.
Scoblick, who averaged close to 12 coming into Thursday, was held to five, while Holy Redeemer graduate Brooke Kroptavich was held scoreless in 17 minutes.
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