Fisher Catholic rallies from deficit to reach semifinals

GROVEPORT – Playing on the road and trailing 17-8 at the end of the first quarter could have given Fisher Catholic a reason to give up.

However, the Irish rallied to top Madison Christian, 49-45, Thursday night in a Division IV district tournament game. Fisher Catholic now will play the winner of Worthington Christian-Shekinah Christian in a district semifinal game Wednesday night.

"It's nice to get a tournament win," Irish coach Matt Little said. "It's been a tough season in a lot of ways.

"When we got down 10; we could of folded," he added. "I was proud of their comeback on the road."

It was Sarah Lindonnice who kicked things off for the Eagles, scoring eight points early in the first. Turnovers also hurt the Irish, who were struggling to break the Eagles' press.

However, the second quarter brought out a completely different Irish team.

"Bailey Muckensturm is a defensive catalyst. ... She's a big key because she's all over the place," Little said. "She turns up the intensity and gets everyone else going."

The Irish forced eight turnovers in the second, and that — combined with six rebounds from Hannah Wilt — gave the Irish new life. Wilt also scored six points in Fisher Catholic's 15-3 run to start the quarter.

On the final play of the half, Allie McCrady chased down Jayln Stackhouse, who had just stolen the ball, and cleanly blocked a layup to preserve the Irish's 25-24 lead at the break.

The Eagles pulled back their press to start the second half, but things still were slow going for the Irish until Bailey Conrad scored nine points on three consecutive 3-pointers. On the other end of the floor, the Eagles were battling to keep the game close, with Clara Friend and Lindonnice keeping it a three-point game.

In the final minutes, the Eagles never were able to cut the lead to fewer than two. The Irish's defense continued to prevail as Kennedi Christie made big plays down low. Then, it was free-throw shooting that kept the Eagles at bay, despite a 3 at the buzzer from Kendale Search.

Christie led the Irish with 15 points, with Conrad added 13. Muckensturm finished with nine points, and Wilt contributed eight.

"We're just happy to be playing," Little said.

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