St. Joseph girls roll past Freeport despite early foul trouble for standout Spinelli

By: Josh Rizzo
Friday, December 29, 2023 | 8:29 PM

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Waiting 11 days to play in a basketball game was hard enough for St. Joseph senior guard Julie Spinelli. Finding herself on the bench with foul trouble 108 seconds into the game wasn’t the ideal return.

But as the Spartans discovered many times during their St. Joseph Holiday Tournament game, a 71-45 win over Freeport on Friday night at Walter Dlubak Athletic Center, they had the mix to weather the storm.

“I was itching to play,” said Spinelli, who finished tied with Maggie Bernat with a game-high 15 points. “It was hard to sit on the bench. That’s probably why I was so excited to play. I had a few early fouls. I kept my composure for the rest of the game.”

St. Joseph’s size wore down the Yellowjackets (3-6) throughout the game. But Freeport briefly led 4-2 after a basket from Gia Pugliese with 5:08 left in the first quarter. But that lead wouldn’t last long.

Consecutive baskets from Anna Kreinbrook put St. Joseph back ahead 6-4. Spinelli contributed the final two points of a 13-0 run from the free-throw line.

But what happened in the middle of the run was what Spartans coach Geoff Dutelle wanted to see. Kalyda O’Connor came in for Spinelli, hit a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 9-4 and added four rebounds during the run.

“It was kind of a blessing in disguise,” Dutelle said. “The way they were playing, Julie and Gia (Richter), I wanted to see what they would do and defensively how they would adapt. …. When you are putting a lot of emphasis on a couple players and that player isn’t in the game, I wanted to see what else would open up.”

Freeport’s Tessa Keller, who finished with a team-high 12 points, stopped the run with a short jumper with 1:28 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 15-6. St. Joseph (6-2) kept the pressure on by keeping up with the Yellowjackets’ pace.

Morgan Crossey provided a spark for Freeport, making three 3-pointers and finishing with 11 points.

“We just wanted to pick up our intensity where we could,” Freeport coach Mallory Ketterer said. “We wanted to gamble a little bit defensively by trying to turn them over and double the ball when we could. We wanted to speed the game up a little bit. We don’t have much size.”

The Spartans would lean on their defense and put up nearly twice as many shots during the first half as Freeport. St. Joseph shot 15 of 37 in the first half and had many baskets opened up by the passing of Kreinbrook.

Kreinbrook filled the stat sheet, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and four assists.

“The girls look for her as a safety valve,” Dutelle said. “They know when they are in trouble, they can find Anna. She does a good job of not hiding and presenting herself.”

St. Joseph would stretch its lead to 39-17 at halftime and never let the lead get below 19 points for the rest of the game. The Spartans will play undefeated Burrell in the tournament’s championship game Saturday.

Spinelli knows St. Joseph will adapt to whatever is thrown its way.

“It shows that I have a good team behind me,” Spinelli said. “Everyone plays their role well. I think we play as a team well. We all chip in. It’s not just one person.”

Tags: Freeport, St. Joseph