Bishop Ford coach Mike Toro calls it “the red button.”
“We push the button, put it on turbo,” he said.
His team and its star hit it just in time. After a quiet first three quarters with the Falcons holding a one-point fourth quarter lead, Shayra Brown took control. The Boston College-bound guard scored seven of her 14 points in the final frame and started transition with steals and rebounds. She added six rebounds and six steals. Her energy burst allowed host Bishop Ford to pull out a 60-51 win over borough rival Bishop Kearney in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball.
“When they started coming back it was like alright we can’t do this again,” Brown said. “I had to really step it up.”
Kearney got within 41-40 on a putback by Meaghan McGoorty, who scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Brown answered with a 3-pointer from the left corner and led two straight fast breaks, one started by her own steal, that ended in Shanice Vaughan layups to help Ford take a 50-40 lead with 3:12 left in the game. The Falcons ran through the Kearney press in the final minutes to hold on.
“We were so lucky that she did that,” said senior Vanessa D’Ambrosi, who scored 13 points.
That’s because the way Ford (12-1, 5-1 B/Q) played down the stretch was a stark difference to its performance through most of the first three quarters. It led by as many 25-15 with 4:01 left before the half. From that point forward it was Kearney (7-5, 0-6) that was the aggressor. The Tigers calmly navigated the press and outworked the Falcons in the paint. Sam Retas scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Taylor Raccuglia scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Kearney, which trailed 39-38 after three. Diani Mason added eight points for Ford.
“We took possessions off when we shouldn’t have, boxing out, rebounding,” Brown said. “It made the game close. We can’t do it.”
Ford struggled to find a rhythm against Kearney’s 2-3 zone. It didn’t show enough patience and didn’t move the ball quick enough to be able to attack correctly. Like in games prior, the Falcons become too stagnant and settled for jumpers. Kearney had chances to take the lead late in the third and early in the fourth.
“We are used to running an offense and not being too stationary,” D’Ambrosi said. “We are used to one pass and an easy layup. When in a zone we have to work it and that is not what we are comfortable with. “
The road only gets tougher for the Falcons starting with a trip to Middle Village to play a Christ the King team looking to avenge a Dec. 7 overtime loss to Ford. It was only the Royals’ second league loss in a decade. D’Ambosi said it would have been “horrible” if they played the way they did against Kearney against CK.
“We know it is going to be a tough game,” Toro said. “We know King is coming for us, because we won. In our minds it is just another game on the schedule. As long as we play hard we should be fine.”