Apollo-Ridge girls defeat St. Joseph in game between teams battling rust
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Wednesday, January 19, 2022 | 10:09 PM
Apollo-Ridge’s Sophie Yard drives past St. Joseph’s Emma Swierczewski during their game on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at Apollo-Ridge High School.
Apollo-Ridge’s Sydney McCray scores past St. Joseph’s Trinity Lockwood-Morris during their game on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at Apollo-Ridge High School.
Apollo-Ridge’s Kylar Toland drives against St. Joseph’s Trinity Lockwood-Morris during their game on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at Apollo-Ridge High School.
Apollo-Ridge’s Brinley Toland (13) and Sydney McCray pressure St. Joseph’s Julie Spinelli during their game on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at Apollo-Ridge High School.
Apollo-Ridge and St. Joseph did something Wednesday night they rarely had done this month: play a basketball game.
Despite all the down time, the Vikings girls didn’t lose their free-throw shooting touch.
Apollo-Ridge shot 30 of 40 from the free-throw line and posted a 66-55 victory in a home nonsection battle,
It was only the fourth game Apollo-Ridge has played this month and just the third for St. Joseph.
Both teams have a pair of unscheduled makeup games in their respective sections.
The Vikings are now 10-2 overall, and St. Joseph fell to 2-8.
Junior Sydney McCray had a triple-double for Apollo-Ridge with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals to pace the victory. Sophia Yard scored 14 and was 9 of 12 from the free-throw line, and Brinley Toland added 13 points and six assists.
“We wanted to be aggressive and cause them some pressure problems,” said Apollo-Ridge coach Ray Bartha. “Kids played well overall. The foundation did their job tonight. All three have to play well, and they did in a big game tonight.”
The Vikings had 16 field goals compared to 15 for St. Joseph, making free-throw shooting the difference with Apollo-Ridge hitting 30 shots while St. Joseph was 20-41.
“It was difficult for us,” said St. Joseph coach Dennis Jones. “We had some school days off with the snow, and we had only one practice. We kept having games canceled. Our kids don’t live close to the school, and we couldn’t get together. That really hurts us.”
Both teams are heavy with underclassmen. The lone senior on the floor Wednesday night was Trinity Lockwood-Morris of the Spartans.
“They did well tonight after being a little rusty,” Jones said. “We played a good team. We did well rebounding. We’re a freshman-sophomore team, and I’m happy with the way we’re coming along. I see some young mistakes, but that’s going to happen.”
Julie Spinelli led the way for St. Joseph with 23 points, including 13 of 22 on free throws, and 10 rebounds. Lockwood-Morris had 12, and Emma Swerczewski gathered 12 rebounds.
The taller Spartans controlled the boards early, leading to an 18-12 advantage with 6 minutes, 18 seconds left in the half. A steal by Kyler Toland and a pair of free throws by the freshman guard closed the gap, and Yard’s 3-pointer tied the score at 19-19. A 3-pointer by Kyler Toland gave the Vikings the lead for good.
“The size difference was a factor, but we held our own,” Bartha said.
The veteran coach was happy with his bench play, necessitated by three girls fouling out in the fourth quarter.
St. Joseph will play Clairton on Thursday night, and Apollo-Ridge has a makeup game against Jeannette on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Tags: Apollo-Ridge, St. Joseph
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