Panther Kate Herlihy gets hot from 3-point range
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School girls basketball team controlled the first half of the Feb. 3 game against Middle Township and quickly ran up a 9-point lead early in the second half, putting the Red Raiders up 34-25.
And then, Kate Herlihy happened.
Middle Township’s breakout star hit three 3-pointers in a row to get her team tied 36-36 with the Red Raiders by the end of the third quarter. She added another trey, a basket and two free throws in the fourth as the Panthers outscored Ocean City 10-5 in the final period to win, 46-41.
“I think Kate Herlihy just put a clinic on us,” Ocean City coach Paul Baruffi said right after the game. “She hit every three she took, mostly in the second half, and we let her get the looks. She’s a great player and great players do those things.”
After keeping control throughout the first half and early in the second, the Red Raider girls looked like they were rushing as the game wore on and Herlihy warmed up.
It was a promising start for Ocean City. The Red Raiders took a 15-10 lead in the first quarter behind 6 points from Stephanie Carey, 5 from Avery Jackson and 4 from Marin Panico.
Middle Township edged back into the game in the second quarter tying it at 18-18 five minutes in and took a brief 24-23 lead after a field goal by Herlihy. A’yanna Morton gave Ocean City the lead back and the Red Raiders went into halftime up 27-24.
The second half looked even more promising early as Jackson started a run with a 3-pointer followed by baskets by Panico, Marlee Brestle and Tori Vliet.
The promise faded as Herlihy took over, boosted by a jumper from teammate Jada Elston and two free throws from Brynn Bock.
The game was tied again at 36-36 to start the fourth quarter and Vliet got her second basket to give Ocean City its final lead of the game, 38-36.
And then Herlihy hit a trey and then a jumper and Bock added a basket.
Ocean City only scored 3 more points in the game and none in the final three and a half minutes.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Baruffi said. “We don’t recognize who are shooters are sometimes and we force stuff and we don’t kick, we don’t move to spots. Those are all things we have to keep working on.”
“I have a ton of respect for Paul and his kids,” Middle coach John Leahy said. “Any time you play Ocean City you have to fight for everything. They’re going to make you work for everything.”
He said his Panthers had too many defensive breakdowns earlier in the game but in the third quarter Herlihy started making shots to close the 9-point gap and then the defense improved late to hold off the Red Raiders.
“The bottom line is our defense has to get better,” he said. “I think we held them to 5 points in the fourth quarter, so when we defend and rebound we can be pretty good and the offense can take care of itself.”
Leahy said his team is dealing with the same challenges as every other team with the short time for practice before the season began. “We’re trying to appreciate every day that we have,” he said. “Normally we’d be talking about big picture and where we’d want to be at the end of the year. This year it’s about yes, we’re allowed to practice tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow we’ll be allowed to play on Friday. That really has been the approach.
“From an X’s and O’s thing, there’s no question that everyone is behind,” he said. “There is stuff we haven’t talked about that we normally would have in but you just don’t have time to squeeze everything in. Some of the basketball may be a little bit ugly, but that may be the highest Middle Township-Ocean City scoring game that we’ve ever had, in the 40s.”
Leahy acknowledged that Herlihy is a “difference maker for us. There is no question about that. I think she is the best player in our league. When we needed big plays, she made them for us tonight.”
He noted Herlihy is a great athlete and a “humble kid” who wants her teammates to do well. “She’s so fast.” After Ocean City had the team down by 9, he said the Panthers began to execute a few of their set plays and Herilhy was able to get open. “She’s special. After graduating a big class last year this is kind of her team. …. Hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Herlihy led all players with 26 points, including five 3-pointers, to keep the Panthers undefeated at 3-0 on the season.
Lynasia Harris had 7 points for the Panthers, all in the first half, Bock had 5, Elston and Kylie Graham had 4 each and Brianna Robison scored 2.
The Red Raiders dropped to 1-2, sandwiching a win over Cape May Tech between the losses to the Panthers and rival Mainland, the game that opened the season.
Jackson led Ocean City with 13 points, including three treys, Panico had 10, Carey scored 7, Brestle had 5, Vliet had 3 and Morton finished with 2.
Wildwood Catholic 40
Ocean City 33
Ocean City (1-3) lost to Wildwood Catholic (3-1) 40-33 on the road Friday night.
Panico led her team with 15 points, Jackson had 9, Hannah Cappelletti had 7 and Stephanie Carey contributed 2.
Marianna Papzogioiu scored 24 points to lead Wildwood Catholic.
Ocean City was hosting Atlantic City Monday night.
The girls travel to Cape May Tech at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and are at Mainland Regional at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
