North Catholic and Oakland Catholic had battled to a draw for 31 minutes when the Eagles got possession and head coach Henry Schechter called a timeout to draw up a play that could give the team a share of the Class 4A Section 1 title.
Oakland Catholic sophomore Madi Pullen saw what was on the wipeboard and knew the ball was headed her way.
“I was just visualizing it going in,” Pullen said Wednesday. “I knew the ball was coming to me. I knew the ball was coming into my hands. I just had to visualize it and I knew it was going to go in.”
The rest of the Eagles fans just held their breath as she launched the 3-pointer from the top-left of the key. But when it hit nothing but net, Oakland Catholic had pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Pullen, who scored only six points on a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, made the biggest basket of the season as she gave Class 4A No. 3 Oakland Catholic (14-3, 10-1) the lead for good with 52 seconds remaining in regulation in a 39-37 victory against No. 1 and defending champion North Catholic (15-3, 9-1).
What a game!!
— Keith Barnes (@KBarnes_PG) January 30, 2025
Brady Wehner misses a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer and Oakland Catholic wins 39-37 over North Catholic! pic.twitter.com/r79QhSfFsI
“That kid’s the hardest working kid on the team. She’s the last one to leave the gym,” Schechter said. “All those extra shots paid off on that play. We ran into a perfect plan.”
It was an incredible win, not only to give Oakland Catholic a possible share of the section title, but the fact that North Catholic lost a section game. The Trojanettes had not dropped a section matchup since losing to Vincentian, 66-59, in a Class 1A Section 2 tilt on Jan. 11, 2016, a streak of 112 section games.
“It obviously gives up a lot of momentum heading into the playoffs, but ending North’s I don’t know how many section games streak is huge for us,” Pullen said. “It kind of puts us on the board.”
North Catholic will have little time to shrug this one off as the team plays at Highlands on Thursday in another section game.
“I think I’d rather see this game and lose this and be ready,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann said. “We normally shoot better. We missed a lot of things we don’t normally miss.”
North Catholic actually had two opportunities to win the game in the final seconds.
After Pullen’s 3-pointer gave Oakland Catholic a 38-35 lead, Brady Wehner, who led North Catholic with 12, hit a pair of free throws to get it back to a one-point game with 41 seconds left. Junior Savannah Daye hit 1 of 2 from the line with 19 seconds left to close out the scoring, but the Trojanettes did have one final opportunity as Wehner’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
Game flow
North Catholic led for most of the game as both teams were below their season averages from the floor in the first three quarters. The Trojanettes opened up their biggest lead of the game, 22-14, on a Lauren Reitz hoop with 6:04 left in the first half, but Oakland Catholic, behind a pair of 3-pointers from Alayla Bivins, got it back to within a point, 24-23, at the intermission.
Bivins led all scorers with 12 before she fouled out with 3:31 left in regulation. North Catholic led, 35-33, with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
Key stats
• In the first three quarters, Oakland Catholic and North Catholic were a combined 21 of 69 (30.4%) from the field and committed 30 turnovers.
• North Catholic had a slight rebounding edge, 31-29.
Quotable
“It was definitely a playoff-type environment. We’re still a young team. We have two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior in our lineup.” – Rottmann
What it means
Oakland Catholic and North Catholic are now tied for first place in Class 4A Section 1, but the big winner on the night is Blackhawk. The Cougars (16-2) could now slide into the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 4A playoffs when the brackets are announced on Feb. 10.
First Published: January 30, 2025, 3:39 a.m.
Updated: January 30, 2025, 3:57 a.m.