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Hoye, OPRF hold off late rally, win season finale over St. Joseph
Westchester, 02/08/13--Oak Park River Forest's Maeve Connelly shoots a three point basket. St Joseph High School hosted Oak Park River Forest High School in girls basketball Friday night. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 17, 2013 2:34AM
WESTCHESTER — Baskets were at a premium for both Oak Park-River Forest and St. Joseph in their regular season finale, which had the atmosphere and tension of a postseason contest.
Huskies coach J.P. Coughlin said after watching his team win 58-50 that he had hoped that would be the case.
“I wanted a playoff test for this team when I scheduled the game,” Coughlin said. “It was nice to get the win as we get ready for regionals.”
The Huskies (10-17) took control early thanks to 13 first-half points by sophomore guard Hailey Hoye and led by as much as 17. The Chargers struggled from the field, making only five field goals in the first half.
The Chargers (8-20) rallied behind junior forward Chanel Brown and senior center Shaakera Jones, cutting the lead to 52-48 in the fourth. But the Chargers were unable to complete the comeback, as foul trouble and Hoye’s 8-of-11 free-throw shooting clinched the OPRF win.
“She (Hoye) is actually an 85-percent free-throw shooter and to have her miss three free throws in one quarter is actually kind of rare,” Coughlin said.
Senior guard Caroline Kelty scored 15 points and junior forward Erin Orr had nine.
For the Chargers, forward Chanel Brown led with 20 points while Jones and junior guard Kietta Saunders had nine points each.
“We dug too big a hole early on,” Chargers coach Jim Maley said. “We couldn’t get the shots to fall for us tonight.”
The Chargers open the St. Joseph Regional on Tuesday against the winner of Aurora Central Catholic and Clemente. The Huskies play Juarez in the Hinsdale Central Regional on Monday.
Oak Park-River Forest 58, St. Joseph 50
Oak Park-River Forest (10-17)
Hoye 4 10-13 21, Kelty 5 4-4 15, Hall 2 1-4 5, Orr 3 3-5 9, Onyenso 2 0-1 4, Carraher 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 18-27 58.
St. Joseph (8-20)
Ki. Saunders 3 3-4 9, Brown 7 6-10 20, Beamon 1 0-2 2, Hollingshed 2 0-0 4, Jones 3 3-7 9, Liotine 3 0-0 6. Totals 19 12-23 50.
OPRF 14-16-13-15 — 58
St. Joseph 9-8-17-16 — 50
3-point field goals: OPRF 4 (Hoye 3, Kelty 1); St. Joseph: None.
