BEL-NOR • Yogi Berra could have easily been talking about the typical Incarnate Word-St. Joseph's basketball game when he said 'it ain't over ‘til it's over.'
The latest bout between the area perennial powers was like that, too. The host Red Knights held an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter. The game looked thoroughly finished at that point.
Somebody forgot to tell the Angels, though. They scored the next 15 points to cut that deficit to just three. But the Red Knights woke up just in time to escape with a 50-45 victory in a battle of the area's top two large school teams.
"With four minutes left, all we need to do is continue to take care of the ball, continue to take good, quality shots and it doesn't get that close," Incarnate coach Dan Rolfes said.
Despite the hiccup at the end, the Red Knights picked up a huge win. The No. 2 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings improved to 15-6 and 2-0 in Metro Women's Athletic Association White Division play. St. Joe's (No. 1 large schools) fell to 17-4 and 3-1.
The Red Knights had Lateesha Deloach to thank for helping rescue them at the end. She hit two free throws with 20 seconds left in the game to break a four-minute scoreless streak. The senior credited her religious beliefs for helping her excel in the stressful situtation.
"That helps me get through it," she said. "Any nervousness or jitters I have, it just goes away."
"That was huge," Rolfes said of Deloach's free throws. "That's what you have to do down the stretch in close ballgames. You've got to take care of the ball and hit free throws."
Deloach put the Angels away, but not until after St. Joe's made an impressive run. Senior Maddie Stock led the charge down the stretch by scoring 11 of her game-high 22 points in the final four minutes of play.
“It was great," St. Joe's coach Julie Matheny said of the Angels' comeback. "It’s kind of rewarding after a frustrating three quarters. I’m proud of the way the girls never gave up and came back and we made it a game. We made it respectable.”
For the Red Knights, the win was their 14th over St. Joe's in the last 17 tries against their archrivals. Earlier this season, IWA beat the Angels 46-41 in the Visitation Christmas Tournament final.
"Anytime you win against St. Joe's, that's a good win," said Deloach, who finished with 11 points. "We came out, we executed and we did what we had to do. Toward the end, it got a little scrappy, but we still came out with the victory."
Taylor Manuel led the way for the Red Knights with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Nakiah Bell, who finished with eight points, gave her team a big lift in the first half when she hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Red Knights take an 18-14 advantage. They finished the first half with a 15-5 run to take a 32-24 halftime lead.
After a punchless third quarter, IWA went on a 12-3 run to take what appeared to be a comfortable lead. The Angels quickly made things uncomfortable for the Red Knights, however.
"I don't remember a game that didn't come down to something like this," Rolfes said. "You know going into it that it's going to be a battle."
With the win, the Red Knights, who won five straight league titles before giving up the crown to the Angels last season, can get it back with wins over Ursuline and Nerinx Hall in upcoming games.
Incarnate, the two-time defending Class 5 champion, appears to have bigger fish to fry, however. The Red Knights want a three-peat.
"I didn't even know it was a conference game until today," Deloach said.
