TROY, N.Y. — Composure was key for the Catholic Central Crusaders in their 64-62 girls Class A state championship victory against the Walter Panas Panthers of Section I. Early deficit, no sweat. Trailing late in the third quarter with three starters in foul trouble, no problem. The Crusaders (25-1) didn’t get down, they put their heads down and gritted it out to prevail past the Panthers (24-4), on Saturday evening at Hudson Valley Community College.
In the early going, the Crusaders trailed the Panthers 11-2, and head coach Audra DiBacco called timeout at 5:29. The timeout worked wonders for the Crusaders, as a pair of buckets by Akarri Gady and an El ‘Dior Dobere three cut the deficit to 11-9.
After the Panthers converted an and-one, a Tanavia Turpin block set up a Gabriella DiBacco trifecta to trim the deficit to 14-13.
With the Panthers ahead 15-13 after one, the Crusaders took their first lead as Kristen Foglia popped a pair from beyond the arc to make it 19-15. A putback by Gaddy at the 6:21 mark pushed the advantage to 21-15. A Foglia steal led to a Turpin basket on the other end and a 23-15 advantage.
Yet, in this game of runs, the Panthers propelled by Cadence Nichols (31 points) and Sofia Tavarez (23 points) reeled off a 7-0 run to take a 24-23 edge into the locker room.
The third quarter was bumpy for the Crusaders’ car, playing without its “motor” Turpin and her four fouls. By the 1:36 mark of the third quarter, Turpin, Gaddy, and DiBacco were all on the sideline with four fouls for the Crusaders and the Panthers stretched their advantage to 47-39 at the 1:17 mark.
A total of 19 fouls were called in the quarter.
DiBacco noted how she kept her team poised after a tough third quarter.
“I said to them we can’t control fouls in terms of what the refs are whistling. We need to remain calm. We just gotta get outta the quarter with a fresh start in the fourth quarter and we did that,” DiBacco explained.
“I couldn’t tell you what the score was going into the fourth quarter but I said to them, listen we’re gonna win the game. Just dig deep every possession, one possession at a time, we’re gonna win the game and we did just that, one possession at a time,” DiBacco added regarding rallying her group.
Trailing 51-42 entering the fourth frame, DiBacco inserted her starting five in the all-or-nothing push for the title.
A 6-0 run to begin the quarter, pulled the Crusaders within three at the 5:41 mark.
Turpin converted an and-one, cutting the deficit to 55-54 with 4:45 remaining.
“We played without Navi [Turpin] a good portion of the third quarter, played without Ella [DiBacco] for a little bit and we had to go with subs and they came in and did their jobs. I knew once we got Navi back on the floor we could make a run,” DiBacco noted.
After the Crusaders regained possession on a jump ball, Gaddy converted an and-one to provide Catholic Central with a 57-55 advantage.
Gaddy lengthened the lead with a layin at the 1:57 mark at 59-55.
Walter Panas cut the deficit to 59-57 on two free throws and tied the contest at 59 on a Giuliana Rodriguez layup with 25.1 left in the game.
On the ensuing possession for Catholic Central, Gaddy converted a bounce pass feed from Turpin down low to take a 61-59 lead.
After the Panthers converted one of two free throws, Dobere sank both attempts at the charity stripe to make it 63-60.
A layin by Tavarez trimmed the Panthers’ deficit to one.
With 6.6 to go, Dobere converted one of two at the line to make it 64-62.
A steal by the gritty DiBacco sealed it as the Crusaders held on for the win.
“Sometimes it’s tough as a parent to have your kid on the team but I’ll tell you what, she may not be in all the highlights but she’s tough as nails. She locked in at the end of that game and caused that turnover,” DiBacco commented postgame on being able to celebrate the moment with her daughter.
Playing like a junior, the freshman Dobere paced the Crusaders with 22 points and was 10-of-14 from the charity stripe. With fellow starters on the bench with foul trouble, the point guard helped her squad weather the storm.
“We’re all very proud of each other. We worked hard for this all season. We accomplished our goal by hard work and trusting in our teammates and that’s what we accomplished,” Dobere said.
“It didn’t feel real but we’re here,” Dobere added regarding winning a state title.
“She may be a freshman but she started for me since seventh grade and she was like that in seventh grade and I knew she’d be like that tonight,” DiBacco noted on Dobere’s effort.
Gaddy, who posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, commented on what the moment meant to become state champions.
“I was so excited and overjoyed that we won. I’m so proud of everybody. We really pushed through,” Gaddy remarked.
Foglia, who contributed 13 points and eight boards, expressed her excitement.
“It’s great. We worked hard for this all season and for it to come true was amazing,” Foglia noted.
Turpin, who posted eight points and 13 rebounds, remarked on what it felt like to win a state title and how she and her teammates stuck together to pull out the victory.
“It means a lot to us because we haven’t won since 2002 so this young group of girls being able to win in 2024 feels amazing, not just for myself but for our whole team and our Catholic High community,” Turpin added.
