Fontbonne 37 Bishop Kearney 32

After losing their first game against Bishop Kearney, the Bonnies hosted the Tigers on their home court at Fontbonne Hall Academy. 

“We practiced hard and we wanted to play them at our own gym,” explained Fontbonne freshman Cristina Calascione, the JV squad’s high scorer for the season thus far. 

Agreeing with his player’s take on this game, JV Head Coach Anthony Bartholomeo stated, “Our small court is our sixth man. They came out with a real intensity for this game. It was a real team win.”

Playing to a packed gym for this new local rivalry, the Tigers took a 10-9 lead in the first quarter.  Led by Calascione’s 8 points in the second quarter, the Bonnies went on a 12-4 run to make a statement with a 21-13 lead at the half.

Not to be counted out, JV Tigers’ Head Coach Nick Crimeni employed a full-court press from the opening of the second half to tie the score at 27-27 by the end of the third quarter.

The Bonnies’ Jill Nixon had her breakout game of the season, scoring 6 points and forcing key turnovers. After rolling her ankle earlier in the game, Nixon returned to the court in the fourth quarter, only to take an elbow to the forehead that forced her out of the game for good.

With one minute left after a hard foul, Calascione hit a free throw to put Fontbonne ahead, 33-32. Liz Serrone followed with a decisive put-back with 22 seconds left to seal the win for the Bonnies at 37-32. 

For Kearney, Jennifer Kaye scored 14 points as the Tigers’ leading scorer.