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Defeat does not rest lightly on the shoulders of the Lyons girls basketball team. A night after their first loss of the season, to Associated Press Class 4A No. 2 Benet in the semifinals of the power-packed Montini Christmas Tournament, the top-ranked Lions were back in form, knocking off Marist 72-50 on Dec. 28 to claim not only third place, but a measure of pride.
“We were disappointed (losing to Benet), but we knew we had another game the next night and had to wake up and come ready to play,” said star forward Nora Ezike. “It’s a new day.”
It’s almost a cliche to say the Lions are a team on a mission, but the argument can be made. It’s Ezike’s senior year before she’s off to Stanford, and last season the Lions were knocked off by eventual state runner-up Nazareth in a sectional semifinal.
For Ezike, fellow senior starter Tess Berenson and three other seniors, this is it.
“Last year, we were the underdog and I kinda liked that,” Ezike said. “No one really believes in you to win but you have that fire under yourself. Being No. 1 in the state, it puts a little bit of a target on your back. So embrace that.”
Benet found the target in the 71-58 semifinal clash, which made getting back on the right foot against Marist imperative.
“We’re not deep off the bench, so playing back-to-back-to-back games with the amount of kids we’re playing would be difficult,” Lyons coach Meghan Hutchens said. “I thought it was important we came out here and showcased what we normally do. For us to bounce back today, manage our turnovers and get up and down the floor, I thought we did a nice job.”
The Lions led Marist by five points after a quarter and by nine, 45-36, at the break, but put away the RedHawks with a 13-4 margin in the third quarter. And holding Marist (13-4) to four points was the more impressive part of the effort.
The 1-2 punch of 6-foot-2 Ezike (30 points, 11 rebounds) and 6-foot Emma O’Brien (24 points, including a quarter of 3-pointers) was unmatchable for the RedHawks. They alternated in tormenting Marist: Ezike scored 15 points in the first quarter, O’Brien scored 15 in the second, and Ezike had seven of Lyons’ 13 in the third. And Gwen Smith dropped in a deceptively quiet 14 points along the way.
“I’m glad we’re working together so well this season,” Ezike said. “We pass the ball and feed each other inside really well. She’s a really great 3-point shooter but can also drive to the basket and post up really well. I’m stronger driving to the basket. So it’s hard to guard so many people at once.”
“They share the ball, and that makes them special,” Hutchens said.
Lyons was also more aggressive defensively after the intermission, and it wore the RedHawks out.
“It was great we were able to play right after (the loss), so we didn’t sulk too much,” O’Brien said. “We were able to get all that out of our system today. And not all teams have defenders who are able to guard Nora and me effectively, which is nice.”
The Cosme sisters combined for 24 points for Marist, with Olivia scoring 13 and Lucy coming off the bench to add 11. Each had a trio of 3-pointers, all coming in the first half. Marist was 0-of-12 from long range in the second half.
“They were hitting transition shots and hitting a lot of threes,” Ezike said of Marist’s first-half attack. “We had to step up on their 3s.”
When they did, it was game over.
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