By Mike Rubin

With a steady effort, the St. Clements girls basketball team is off to an undefeated start in league play.

Led by a solid effort, the Anchorwomen escaped with a 46-45 overtime win over Lowell Catholic followed by wins over Trinity Catholic last Monday (37-35) along with a double overtime win over Pope John (47-45). Currently, the Anchorwomen stand at 5-0 in the Catholic Central Small League and a 7-3 overall mark.

“You couldn’t ask for a better showdown between two undefeated teams heading into Friday night action between the Lowell Catholic Crusaders and the Saint Clement Lady Anchors,” said coach Shawn Thornton about the game on January 7. The Crusaders have been the top team in the Catholic Central League small for the past few seasons. The last time the Lady Anchors defeated them was in 2008.”

In the Lowell Catholic win, both teams continued to trade leads before the Anchorwomen grabbed a 25-20 halftime edge.

“I think when you play a game verse a highly intelligent basketball team, you have to make note that those types of teams can beat you moving the ball and hitting big shots,” said Thornton. And that’s what the Crusaders did. They moved the ball well verse the 1-2-2 zone in which the Lady Anchors play.

Through three quarters, the Anchorwomen and Crusaders were deadlocked at 31-31 before Chrissy Novembere delivered seven fourth quarter points. With the teams still tied at 38-38, the contest headed into overtime as Jess Popken nailed a clutch three point shot. In the final seconds, the Anchorwomen maintained the lead, and forced a key turnover en route to the win

“I told Popken to throw the ball deep the Novembre if they didn’t have a safety and she did just that,” said Thornton.

On Monday’s contest against Trinity Catholic, the Anchorwomen prevailed in a 37-35 win before escaping with a tough 47-45 overtime win over Pope John last Friday.

In the win over Pope John, the Anchorwomen created several turnovers down the stretch in overtime en route to the win while Novembre established some key clutch shots down the stretch.