The Visor

Girls basketball tangles with emerging new rival

January 11, 2010

Evan Luse

The rivalry between Archbishop Hoban and Padua Franciscan is quickly intensifying. In both boys and girls competition, regardless of the sport, the match-up between the Knights and the Bruins is among the most physical and passionate battles of a season. Games against storied rivals St. Vincent-St. Mary and Walsh Jesuit are no longer the only games circled on the preseason calender as key games.

So far this year, the flame for this emerging rivalry has been fanned with ferocious play in a variety of venues. In the fall, the boys soccer team won a dramatic mid-season bout on a penalty kick off the foot of senior Alec Hyde. The girls soccer team was only able to mount a tie against the Bruins in a physical battle at the tail end of their season. Not only that, but the girls volleyball team lost a sensational match three games to two, losing by two points in the final game. Padua’s girls volleyball team went on to win its second consecutive state championship. The biggest enhancement to the rivalry came on the gridiron, as the Knights football team squared up two times against the Bruins: once in regular season play and once in the opening round of the playoffs. Both games left Hoban victorious in close, intense battles.

On Wednesday night the Bruins attempted to invade the castle and take on the girls basketball team. The siege was quickly halted as the Knights sprang out to a ten point run in the opening minutes. Solid defensive pressure in a two-one-two full-court press led to easy transition buckets for Hoban, as they would lead 20-6 after the first quarter.

“They want to beat us so badly,” senior guard Taneka Lewis said. “They play with passion and heart and they’re scrappy so it was a physical battle all four quarters.”

Although the Knights mounted as high as a 25 point lead, the game had the physicality of a nail-biter. Senior forward Krissy Sokol and junior forward Emily Orsini battled valiantly with the intense front court of Padua and scored 17 and 13 points respectively.

“Padua is a very strong and athletic school,” Sokol said. “When we play them we know it’s not going to be an easy game.”

Heading into the fourth quarter with a 53-30 lead, the girls showed no signs of letting up and ended the game with a 65-42 victory.

“We are the team to beat this year and we can’t ever let up in league play,” Orsini said. “Padua is just a big rival game. Both teams approach competition with similar mindsets.”

Hoban fans can look forward to a continued rivalry with Padua as more gritty clashes unfold. The girls squad will look to bring the same fervency as they tangle with Hathaway Brown away this Wednesday at 7:30 P.M.

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