GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lancers Edge SI in Thriller

The Score: St. Francis 61, St. Ignatius 60.

The Star: Sophomore forward Shelby Aimonetti stepped up to the free-throw line with host St. Francis trailing by a point with 9.8 seconds remaining and sank both shots, the difference in a dramatic West Catholic Athletic League game.

The Turning Point: Vanessa D'Amico and Jenna Thompson hit back to back 3-pointers for St. Francis to open the second half, a sequence that set the tone for the rest of the game. In a dreadful first half, the Lancers seemed to be in disarray defensively, especially in the second quarter, when they allowed 25 points.

The Quote: “I feel like we got a little cocky those next two games, but I honestly think it was good that we lost to Valley (Christian) and we lost to Sacred Heart Cathedral because we need to realize that if we get cocky like that, anyone can beat anyone." -- St. Francis junior guard Jenna Thompson, on how the Lancers' upset victory over perennial state power Mitty on Jan. 5 affected the team.

What’s Next? St. Francis plays host to Fairfield in a non-league game on Monday at 3 p.m.

The Bottom Line: St. Francis put an end to a two-game skid and with a gritty win showed that stunning victory over Mitty was no fluke.

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It got to the point where the St. Francis High girls basketball team had so many injuries, out of desperation, Lancers coach Ashley Hill tapped Shelby Aimonetti from the junior varsity.

It’s probably safe to say you won’t be seeing Aimonetti playing JV ball again anytime soon.

The unflappable sophomore has made a quiet transition, and on Saturday, she was the Lancers’ hero in a 61-60 victory over visiting St. Ignatius in a West Catholic Athletic League game.

St. Francis (8-5, 2-2 WCAL) trailed 60-59 with 9.8 seconds left in the game when Aimonetti sank a pair of free throws that capped a fourth-quarter comeback.

The Lancers hadn’t led since early in the second quarter, and trailed by as many as seven points with less than three minutes left in the game.

Aimonetti said she’d never faced comparable pressure since joining the varsity.

“I just took some deep breaths,” Aimonetti said.

“I didn’t want to lose the game, we didn’t want to lose the game,” she said. “We really wanted to get the victory for the whole St. Francis crowd because they were a really great crowd.”

“Pretty clutch,” said junior guard Jenna Thompson, who led the Lancers with 17 points.

The victory capped a turbulent four-game stretch to start the year. The Lancers pulled off one of the state’s biggest upsets of the year when they shocked perennial power Mitty 48-45 in their league opener on Jan. 5. They lost their next to games to Valley Christian and Sacred Heart Cathedral on Wednesday and Friday.

“I feel like we got a little cocky those next two games, but I honestly think it was good that we lost to Valley and we lost to Sacred Heart Cathedral because we need to realize that if we get cocky like that, anyone can beat anyone,” Thompson said. “We obviously showed out there that we have the heart to beat any team.”

St. Francis didn’t start well on Saturday. The Lancers seemed to be in disarray defensively in the first half, especially in the second quarter, when they allowed 25 points, a season high for a quarter for St. Ignatius (the Wildcats’ previous high was 19).

Vanessa D'Amico and Thompson hit back to back 3-pointers for St. Francis to open the second half, a sequence that set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Lancers trailed 58-51 with just under three minutes left when D’Amico’s 3-pointer cut the lead to four. Thompson hit a 3-pointer with just over two minutes left that made it 59-57.

On the Lancers’ last possession, Aimonetti rebounded a Thompson miss under the basket and was fouled before she could get off a shot.

St. Ignatius called a timeout to try to ice Aimonetti.

Good luck with that.

During the timeout, Hill hugged Aimonetti and told her, “Don’t forget to smile.”

Aimonetti didn’t forget.

“She really showed a lot of poise,” Hill said.
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St. Francis 61, St. Ignatius 60

SI: 10 25 15 10 -- 60

SF: 12 15 17 17 -- 61

SI: Sun 2 0-0 4, Gong 3 6-7 12, Crawley 4 4-16 16, Legarza 1 1-2 3, Kemiji-McDonald 3 4-6 10, Avila 6 3-6 15. Totals: 20 18-27 60.

SF: Stelling 1 2-2 4, Mock1 0-0 2, Whitney 2 1-2 5, Sauceda 1 0-0 2, D'Amico 3 1-4 9, Rogers 1 0-0 2, Thompson 4 4-4 17, Johnson 2 4-5 8, Aimonetti 2 7-8 12. Totals: 18 19-23 61.

3-point goals: SI: Crawley 2. SF: D'Amico 2, Thompson 3, Aimonetti.

Records: SI 13-4, 3-2 WCAL. SF 8-5, 2-2.