BY JEREMY GOODE

PHILA.,--It is hard to find any issue with the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur girl’s basketball team.

They have won two Inter-Ac championships in a row after sharing the league title two years ago with Germantown Academy and Penn Charter and then winning the league outright last year. They are coming off an undefeated season in the league, and they returned most of their players from last year.

Yet, with Notre Dame up 11 points at Penn Charter to start the second half on Thurs., Jan. 8, head coach Terry Mancini called a timeout 10 seconds into the second half. He did not like what the team was running in their half court offense. That, and Mancini did not like how his team played in the first half defensively, despite the score.

“It’s just a matter of us maturing and taking things a little bit more seriously,” Mancini said. “I don’t think they realize how hard it is to repeat… I said, ‘the third year is the hardest year because everyone is really gunning for you.’ It’s kind of good that we got punched in the mouth in the first half, and I think they showed you in the second half what they’re capable of.”

Again, Notre Dame was up 34-23 at halftime.

But this is what makes Mancini’s programs great. He’s been here before.

Mancini had won five straight titles when he was at St. Basil’s Academy in Jenkintown. And his starting five this year at Notre Dame consists of two seniors and three juniors. It is also worth noting that the junior class has always finished with an Inter-Ac title.  

The halftime adjustments made a difference against Penn Charter. So much so that they only gave up nine points in the second half, and doubled Penn Charter in score, 64-32, while earning  their second win in the Inter-Ac, and remaining unbeaten.

Notre Dame is on a hunt for excellence, and Mancini will not take his roster for granted. Part of what he did to hopefully make the road easier in the future was to have a difficult out of conference schedule.

“We had a very good preseason,” Mancini said. “We were 7-5, but those five losses were against really good teams. In the back of my mind, I thought this is going to help us in Inter-Ac play and hopefully in PAISAAs.”

So far, the results in the Inter-Ac have worked in Notre’s Dame’s favor. They opened league play with a 17-point win against Episcopal Academy, and now they have secured a 32-point win after traveling to Penn Charter. Two games down, 10 to go.

Notre Dame erupted in the first quarter. All starters recorded at least three points, and they outscored Penn Charter, 21-9. Penn Charter slowed down Notre Dame’s scoring in the second quarter, outscoring the Irish 14-13.

Leila Sharp helped orchestrate Penn Charter’s run in the second quarter, drilling two three pointers and finishing the quarter with 11 pointers. Notre Dame would not allow Sharp to score at any other point during the game.

The 10-minute halftime worked for Notre Dame; they adjusted and outscored Penn Charter 17-5 in the third quarter. They drew 15 fouls in the first three quarters, causing Molly Dougherty and Aubrei Smith to get in foul trouble early on, with Dougherty eventually fouling out of the game.

“We just played better defense,” Emma Anthony said. “In the first half, a lot of the time we were just letting the girl get by us, so second half, we knew we just had to change that and box out.”

Notre Dame also did not allow Penn Charter to get as many offensive rebounds as they did in the first 16 minutes, eliminating second chance points opportunities that triggered Notre Dame in the first half.

One of the biggest differences in the game was shooting behind the arc from both teams. While Notre Dame shot a decent 34 percent from three-point land, they made nine shots beyond the arc.

Additionally, Notre Dame made 25 shots in total, while Penn Charter only converted on 10.

Anthony led the way, recording four three-pointers, while finishing with a game high 18 points, followed by Riley Davis with 13 and Grace Nasr with 10.  

“My teammates got me the ball and I was just in the right place at the right time,” Anthony said.

Anthony’s shooting is not lost on Mancini.

“If she’s not the best shooter I’ve ever coached, she’s 1A or 1B,” Mancini said. “She just has really good mechanics. Mechanically she does nothing different. It’s consistent and when she gets going, she is tough to guard.”

Notre Dame finished with double digit scorers, and 10 Irish recorded at least a point. Alex Gillin added seven points while Maddie DeFronzo scored six.

Nasr helped hold off any Penn Charter final run in the fourth quarter, scoring six of her points in the final eight minutes. The 6’3 forward finished all three of her baskets under the rim, making all three of her baskets that she took to end the game.

“It’s definitely an important win,” Nasr said. “This is not a gym that we always play well, I guess I’ll say. It’s been a tough few games the past couple years, but… this is our first away win in the Inter-Ac and definitely setting us up to do some good things.”