When approached for a postgame interview on Sunday, Gracie O’Donnell admitted that it wasn’t exactly her strong suit.
If she keeps playing the way she did in the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament Elite Eight, more public speaking is surely in her future.
The sophomore guard drained five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, both career highs, to complement another outstanding all-around performance by Brielle Alaba as fourth-seeded Cherokee held off fifth-seeded Middle Township 51-44 at Eastern High School in Voorhees.
The Chiefs, No. 18 in the NJ.com Top 20, improved to 14-3 and advanced to the SJIBT Final Four for a record ninth time. They will face top-seeded and No. 3 Paul VI in the semifinals.
“They’re a great team with a lot of talent so we’re going to have to work really hard,” Alaba said of the showdown with Paul VI, the first of two against the Eagles in the next two weeks. “Our coaches will do a great job as always at preparing us and we just have to play as hard as we can, as smart as we can, and stay composed.”
They followed those rules for the most part on Sunday, even in the face of a gutsy comeback attempt by Middle Township in the second half. That included O’Donnell, a recent addition to the starting lineup because of a high ankle sprain suffered by Nadia Alaba, Brielle’s sister, who is expected back as early as this week.
O’Donnell buried her first two shots, triples from the wing, to help Cherokee build an 11-2 lead after one quarter.
“I was kind of nervous because this was only my third game starting,” she said. “(Those first two shots) helped me lock in and get in the groove of the game. I got more comfortable.”
“I think her hitting those two shots really set the momentum for the first half,” Alaba added. “She stepped up and I’m really proud of her. Gracie works really hard; she stays after practice every day with Jordan (Arnold), putting up shots. We believe in her. We needed her to step up in the moment and she did that. Hopefully she can keep this going.”
O’Donnell hit two more 3s in the second quarter and Alaba scored 14 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as Cherokee extended its advantage to 31-13 by intermission. Every Chief in the starting lineup had at least one assist.
“We were moving it well, getting it to the open person and getting wide-open shots,” O’Donnell said. “It’s really important that the ball doesn’t stay in one spot. We were able to move it and everybody was scoring.”
Those great looks were not as plentiful in the second half, as Middle Township turned up its defensive intensity to get back in the game. The Panthers forced eight Cherokee turnovers in the final two quarters — compared to one in the first — and cut a 19-point deficit in the third quarter down to five on several occasions in the fourth.
Reagan Powell scored 13 of her team-high 21 points in the second half and Sarah Farrow added eight of her 10.
“Obviously, we didn’t play great in the first half,” Middle coach John Leahy said. “I thought we had some opportunities, we were just missing layups and missing some open shots. In the second half we kind of threw caution to the wind and started trapping and gambling. We were able to claw our way back. I’m super happy with the effort and we’ll move forward.”
Another 3 by O’Donnell was instrumental to slowing down Middle’s rally, as it ended an 11-0 run by the Panthers and put Cherokee back up by 10 with four minutes left. Alaba added a steal and layup on the ensuing possession.
“That was big,” Cherokee coach Ron Powell said. “They went on a run and we were kind of playing on our heels a little bit. We missed some bunnies around the basket that hurt. But it doesn’t seem to bother Gracie to take a shot like that.
“She’s done a really good job — she’s making shots for us and she’s added a little depth for us when Nadia comes back. … I’m really happy for her that she’s been able to help us, and I’m also happy for us.”
The more help Cherokee can give Alaba, the better, because opponents certainly want to force the ball out of her hands as much as possible, like Middle Township did in the second half.
“When you face a player like Brielle, you should be trying to do that,” Powell said. “But our other kids are capable of helping out and we always try to stress balance with our team. Brielle obviously carries us, but kids like Abby (Ball), Gracie, Leah (Weiner) and Jordan are capable of playing good basketball. We can be a good basketball team if we have balance.”
Alaba finished with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. She had a rare miss from the foul line on her first attempt, but made her next nine.
“We do see that a lot,” Alaba said of teams sending two defenders at her to make her give the ball up. “Middle is a great team with a lot of talent and they’re well coached. But that’s just where we need other people to step up, and even though we had that little rough patch in the third quarter, we pulled it together and took care of the ball.”
Middle Township, which was coming off a huge Cape-Atlantic League American Division win over rival Wildwood Catholic on Friday, suffered just its second loss and fell to 16-2. Next up for the Panthers is a rematch with the team that handed them their first defeat — Our Lady of Mercy.
They have played a challenging schedule all year and wrap up the regular season this week against OLMA, Mainland and Egg Harbor before the CAL Tournament.
“Our theme is no cupcakes,” Leahy said. “We play all the good teams and we always have. The whole goal is to be as battle tested as you can for the playoffs. That’s how it was when my coaches were in high school and that’s how we’ve always run our program.
“Cherokee is really good and their coaches do a great job, and we were just a couple of possessions away. We have OLMA tomorrow, then Mainland and then EHT, so in our league there are no nights off. We’re going to recharge our batteries and be ready to go. We have a great opportunity in our final three regular-season games to win our division, and hopefully get the one seed for the tournament.”
