Senior Guard Collects Double-Double to Lead Lady Lions to GMCT Girls Play-In Round Victory
SPOTSWOOD, NJ – Almost a week ago, Calvary Christian senior guard, Raegan Fogarty, scored her 1,000th point in a hard fought, 45-43 loss at Highland Park. Prior to Saturday night’s GMCT Girls Play-In Round game versus 27th seeded Wardlaw-Hartridge, Fogarty was honored in front of her home crowd for her recent accomplishment. Then, it was back to business.
Fogarty, who entered Saturday’s contest averaging 13.1 points per game, and 7.0 rebounds per contest, collected a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds as Calvary Christian jumped out to a 10-5 first quarter lead, and gradually pulled away from there by outscoring Wardlaw 33-15 over the final three quarters including a 27-12 showing in the second half for a 43-20 victory.
Senior point guard, Hannah Raike chipped in with 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while Alexa Ortolano added 6 points, 6 steals, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Rachel Schafer also contributed with 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and an assist. Cora Durkin rounded out the Lady Lions scoring with 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist.
Ava Zielinski (5 rebounds), KariAnn Mecke (2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal), and Lily Vengelis (a rebound and a steal) also played for Calvary Christian in the contest. Leading the Lady Rams in defeat was Savanna Bog with 9 points on four field goals and a free throw. Kayla Martell chipped in with 7 points including a two pointer, a three pointer, and 2 of 4 from the line.
Also scoring in a losing cause for Wardlaw was Devin Coleman (2 points) and Sophia Riccio (2 points). Calvary outscored Wardlaw by a 9-3 margin from beyond the arc and 32-14 from within the arc. Wardlaw held a 3-2 edge in made foul shots as the Lady Rams were 50 percent from the line while the Lady Lions were just 33 percent.
As a team, Calvary Christian collected 36 rebounds, 17 steals, 9 assists, and 4 blocks. The Lady Lions pressure defense created plenty of havoc that prevented Wardlaw from establishing a consistent rhythm offensively. Nevertheless, the Lady Rams managed to stay within striking distance in the first half as they only trailed 16-8 at the intermission.
Calvary Christian jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Fogarty scored four of the points including a transition layup for a 4-0 lead early in the first quarter. Wardlaw managed to hang in there by outscoring the home team 5-4 over the rest of the period to trail by five. Both teams only combined for 9 points in the second, but Calvary stretched its lead to 8 with a 6-3 showing including a jumper from the right wing in the closing seconds by Raike.
The Lady Lions opened the second half on a 10-6 run highlighted by a score from Ortolano for a 26-14 lead at the 3:24 mark of the third. Calvary added five more points to end the third quarter including a layup from the right lane by Schafer in the final minute of the frame for a 31-14 advantage heading into the fourth and final period.
The fourth quarter saw much of the same as Calvary Christian continued to pull away with a 12-6 showing that including a steal for a layup by Cora Durkin to the delight of the home crowd. With the victory, Calvary Christian, which moved up to the GMC Blue Division this year, improved to 10-11 overall on the season and 7-7 in conference play. The Lady Lions advance to play 11th seeded Piscataway in the GMCT Preliminary Round on Monday.
Meanwhile, Wardlaw fell to 11-5 overall and 10-4 in the GMC. The Lady Rams will now finish up its GMC Gold schedule with home games on Wednesday, February 8th versus Perth Amboy Magnet, and against Dunellen on Friday, February 10th. Both Perth Amboy Magnet and Dunellen are the top two teams in the GMC Gold heading into the final regular season games. Amboy Magnet just defeated Dunellen, 35-28 in Perth Amboy on Wednesday.
GMC HOOPS CALVARY CHRISTIAN FACTS: Raegan Fogarty became the first girl in school history to score 1,000 points. Fogarty is also the daughter of head coach, Tom Fogarty, who guided the Lady Lions to back to back first place finishes in the GMC Gold in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Alexa Ortolano is the younger sister of recent boys hoops graduate, Vincent Ortolano. Cora Durkin is the sister of former Calvary standout and recent graduate Lucas Durkin and current hoops standout, Kyle Durkin. Rachel Schafer is the youngser sister of junior forward, Michael Schafer. KariAnn Mecke is the older sister of sophomore guard AJ Mecke.