THE FACTS
No. 23 Gettysburg (24-3) 64, No. 13 Johns Hopkins (24-3) 55
What: Centennial Conference (CC) tournament final
When: Sunday, Feb. 25
Where: Baltimore, Md.
THE SKINNY STORY
As the adage goes, defense wins championships. Gettysburg, ranked 23rd in the latest D3hoops.com poll, took that to new heights, locking down No. 13 Johns Hopkins – especially through the first 18 minutes – before the offense got just enough going late to secure a third straight Centennial Conference (CC) championship 64-55 at Johns Hopkins.
THE LEADERS
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Shinya Lee (Rochester, N.Y./Holderness Prep School) was the centerpiece of the defense for the Bullets to earn tournament most valuable player honors. She pulled down a career high-tying 17 rebounds to go with a season-best seven blocked shots. She also scored 10 points, including hitting all four of her free throws in the final two minutes.
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Kimberly Hopkins (Baldwin, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) led the offense with 13 points that included 10 in the decisive fourth quarter and a 7-for-10 showing from the free-throw line. She added six rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
• Elisabeth Peebles led the Blue Jays with 16 points.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg scored four of the game's first six points in what turned into a defensive start to the game. Johns Hopkins responded with 10 straight that included two 3-pointers and four free throws but
Caitlyn Priore (Holland, Pa./Germantown Academy) and
Kimberly Hopkins hit layups in the final 2:15 to make it a 12-8 game after one quarter.
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AB Holsinger (Crozet, Va./Langley) drained a 3-pointer 1:38 into the second quarter to make it a one-point game. The Blue Jays extended the lead back out to 17-13 on a Macie Feldman pull-up jumper with 4:50 to play but five straight points from
Alayna Arnolie (Vienna, Va./James Madison) gave the Bullets an 18-17 edge with 3:25 remaining before
Mackenzie Szlosek (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) made it a four-point lead with a triple 78 seconds later. The teams traded points with Elisabeth Peebles draining a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give the hosts a 24-23 edge at the intermission.
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Emily Violante (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) put the visitors back in front on the opening possession of the second half before Peebles responded with 7:45 to play. A Holsinger trey and Szlosek three-point play made it a 31-26 game but seven straight points from Johns Hopkins gave the Blue Jays a 32-31 edge midway through the quarter. Six more lead changes over the remainder of the period made it a 41-40 Johns Hopkins lead through three quarters.
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Shinya Lee hit a jumper 66 seconds into the fourth period for a 42-41 lead before Hopkins scored three in a row for a 45-41 lead with 7:21 remaining. Feldman cut the deficit in half with 7:05 remaining but two more Hopkins free throws pushed the Gettysburg lead back to four a minute later. Holsinger pulled down an offensive rebound and hit Lee for a layup with 5:30 to play, pushing the advantage to six. Murray connected on a three-point play nine seconds later to make it a 49-46 game. Peebles then drained a wing triple in transition to tie the game with 4:03 to play. Hopkins, though, answered with a three-point play and two more free throws to push the lead back to five with 3:11 showing. Two free throws from Peebles once again trimmed the margin to three with 2:50 remaining. Feldman and Lee traded two charity tosses each to make it a 56-53 game with 2:00 to play. Holsinger canned the second of two free throws with 37.5 seconds to play, pushing the lead to six. Szlosek blocked a 3-point attempt on the other end and Violante pulled down the miss and also canned the second of two free throws for a seven-point lead. After Greta Miller cut the deficit to 60-55, Szlosek and Lee combined to go 4-for-4 from the line in the final 21 seconds to secure the victory.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg becomes the second team in CC history to win three titles in a row joining Muhlenberg from 2015-17 to turn the trick. The last two have come at Goldfarb Gym. It is the Bullets' fifth title all-time, which is second to only the Mules' 10.
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Mackenzie Szlosek finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
• The Bullets had 10 blocked shots as a team and finished with a 53-48 rebounding advantage.
NEXT UP
The NCAA tournament field and brackets will be released via selection show on NCAA.com on Monday at 2:30 p.m.
