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Sports

Lake Catholic Girls' Basketball Team Escapes SVSM Rally

New coach Eppich takes comfort in experienced roster

New Lake Catholic girls’ basketball coach Stephen Eppich got a feeling for the near-heart attacks former coach and school legend Frank Soria experienced many times on the bench when St. Vincent-St. Mary almost miraculously came back and won Wednesday night.

Teetering on the edge, seniors Erin Mog and Delani Stopp sank 4-of-5 free throws in the final minute to ultimately give the Cougars a 58-55 victory over the Fighting Irish in a non-conference game.

The young women saved Eppich’s team from blowing a 20-point lead, the largest he’s held in his very young four-game coaching career. Eppich hasn’t been a head coach at any level until he replaced Soria who coached there for 18 years.

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Needless to say, Eppich, who teaches International and U.S. government history, got quite a lesson on Wednesday evening.

“It was intense, absolutely. For three quarters, we were fantastic and did exactly what we wanted to do. Then the fourth quarter came, we relaxed a little bit against a good team and that’s what happens. But we responded and still closed the game out,” Eppich said.

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Kelsey Lancon led all Cougars (3-1) with 18 points, while Katlyn Spahar had 15 and Stopp had 13. Sophomore Kiley May led the Irish (0-1) with 13 points off the bench followed by Jordan Korinek with 12 and Taja Dave with 11.

Eppich, a 2001 Lake Catholic graduate who is the program’s all-time leading scorer in boys’ basketball, played forward at Wheeling Jesuit University where Stopp has also made a commitment.

Eppich has a lot to live up to, not just because of Soria, but because this experienced team went 23-3 last season, won the North Coast League Blue Division and reached the Division II, Region 5 final.

“A lot of the philosophy and offense we did keep the same because we’ve got eight seniors returning. They know it. They do it well. That’s what took them there (to the regional final),” Eppich said. “I’ve added a few things. It would be a disservice to them if I came in and changed that on eight seniors that went as far as they did. … They’re learning from me, and I’m learning from them and it’s coming together.”

Whatever nerves Eppich might have moving forward, Lancon and her crew is ready to help out. After all, they’ve got a lot on the line themselves this season.

“I like him. He’s good. He and Coach (Lisa) Stopp really work well together. They both know so much about the game and relay it on to us,” Lancon said. “I’m confident in him. I think he’ll do a good job.”

For three quarters, the Cougars rolled over the Irish with only a few choice turnovers here and there to keep the game from being a complete laugher.

Although the Irish tightened the game to 32-22 at halftime, the Cougars went on a 12-4 run that Stopp capped off with a three-pointer for a 46-26 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

But the Irish came roaring back behind Korinek who scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter. Korinek had the Irish’s first three scores of the fourth quarter and after an Andrea Hubbard bucket and a May’s three-pointer, Lake Catholic only led, 50-41, with 3:35 remaining.

SVSM’s Shannon Jack made a score and Lake Catholic’s Kirsten Lorek fouled her as she converted a free throw to draw even closer at 50-44 at 2:48.

A Spahar jumper and a Lancon layup briefly blunted SVSM’s charge and put them up, 54-48, but Jack quickly returned the favor with a layup, and Korinek grabbed a steal and got fouled.

At the line Korinek missed, but May gathered in the rebound, lost her balance and threw the ball toward the basket just before hitting the deck. The ball bounced around on the rim and fell through to draw SVSM closer at 54-50 with 1:36 remaining.

After Mog sank a pair of free throws, Korinek sank a shot in the lane to keep the four-point margin. Mog missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and May quickly made a layup to bring the Irish within 56-54 with 39 seconds remaining. But Stopp went to the line and sank two for a 58-54 lead with 13.4 seconds left.

May then went to the line with three seconds left. She made the first and intentionally missed the second in hopes that a rebound might lead to a three-pointer. SVSM’s Andrea Hubbard gained control of the miss but passed it out of bounds and effectively ended the game.

Eppich was more than happy to survive.

“That just one of many teams we’re going to play that’s going to be rough,” Eppich said. “We were up 20. That’s the first time we were up that many points. … Now they know what could happen. They don’t like losing. They don’t like losing leads. I think they’re definitely taking a lot from it.”


St. Vincent-St. Mary   4  18  8  25    55

Lake Catholic            21  11  16  10  58

SVSM – Shannon Jack 5, Kaitlin May 2, Jordan Korinek 12, Cassie Jakubick 6, Taja Dave 11, Kiley May 13, Andrea Hubbard 6.

Lake Catholic – Katlyn Spahar 15, Kelsey Lancon 18, Hannah Skrbis 2, Delani Stopp 13, Erin Mog 6, Melaney Goosby 4.

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