Fontbonne takes Poly down to the wire 

On Jan. 12, Poly Prep hosted the Fontbonne varsity basketball team on the Blue Devils’ fundraising Oasis Night, which honors outstanding senior students. As a traditional midseason non-league game with their neighbor rivals, the Bonnies played to a packed house of Blue Devil supporters at Poly’s Legacy gym. In addition to the support of a large vocal crowd, the Bonnies were up against Poly’s famed three-decade Ivy League Coach Mike Junsch and his talented squad. 

The Blue Devils took an 11-9 lead to end the first quarter as the Bonnies kept pace with their host. In the second quarter, Fontbonne surged ahead with a 15-8 scoring run. Leeann Ryan came off the bench to close out the quarter with a long three-point basket for a 24-19 lead. Once the Bonnies gained the lead at halftime, they extended their advantage to 37-29 to end the third quarter.

Fontbonne carried a 49-46 lead late into the fourth quarter until Poly’s leading scorer Brianna Robles (15 points) tied the game at 49-49 with her second three-point basket.  Natalya Muchinsky (14 points) then followed with a free throw to tie the game again at 50-50, while Noelle Polanco’s next two consecutive foul shots put Fontbonne ahead 52-50 with 30 seconds left.

After Poly missed an attempt to tie the game, the Bonnies rebounded and drove the ball down court, where the Poly defense forced a “jump ball” as Polanco clung to the ball with the possession arrow in Fontbonne’s favor. In the final seconds of the game, Val Caggiano then came off the bench to set up in a “stack formation.” She was fouled on her way up to score on the inbounds pass from Ally Wagner. With the Bonnies leading by four points with 10 seconds left, Caggiano then sank a critical free throw to put the game out of reach of the Blue Devils for the eventual 55-50 win. 

For Caggiano (five points), this game was a “break-out” effort for the senior who had experienced a scoring drought since the start of the season. Her game-ending three points gave Fontbonne a five-point cushion, while Polanco, the Bonnies’ top scorer, turned in another stellar performance. Scoring 27 points along with 11 rebounds, the junior guard shone throughout the game after celebrating her 1,000-point just a week ago.

“I told them to play hard and to run our plays just like in practice,” said coach Mike Sammon. “Tonight that’s what they did and you saw the result.”