Saint Michael’s hoops heart and soul

 By Bernie Puchalski - October 17, 2018

Julie Manlow (11) is the heart and soul of the Saint Michael’s senior girls basketball team.

A one-minute span in the fourth quarter of a game Wednesday versus the Saint Paul Patriots showed the value of Julie Manlow to the Saint Michael Mustangs senior girls basketball team.

With her team trailing the Patriots 50-46 with less than three minutes left in the game, the Grade 12 student drove to the basket and passed to teammate Aliyah Glaze for a wide-open three to make the score 50-49. The 17-year-old did the same thing on the next possession and Glaze hit a two-pointer to give her team a 51-50 advantage. Manlow then stole the ball from a Saint Paul player on the next possession and made a layup to give her team a 53-50 lead. She then proceeded to steal the ball on Saint Paul’s next three possessions and hit a free throw to give her team a 54-50. Following a wild finish, the Mustangs escaped with a 57-56 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.

“She is the heart and soul of our team,” Saint Michael head coach Rob Bobyk said. “Without her, we would be lost.

“She controls the floor offensively and defensively and she keeps everyone together.”

The spectacular minute of play Manlow displayed Wednesday is something Bobyk has seen throughout her Saint Michael’s career.

“She has got great basketball sense and I am going to miss her next year.”

The 5-foot-9 player is enjoying her final year of high school basketball.

“We just want to play our best and see what we can do with it,” she said. “We knew going in that we didn’t have the strongest team, but we are working well together and trying to win. We are going for it as much as we can.”

Manlow is a former travel player with the Niagara Selects, but she decided this year not to play away from school.

“It was hard, but it’s not something I could see myself going forward in so I decided to give it up,” she said. “But I do miss it a lot.”

Manlow takes a lot of pride in being more of a scorer and having a strong all-around game.

“I am trying to do as much as I can to help out,” she said. “And I try my best to be unselfish. It’s something I have developed, but it helps when you have teammates who all want to work together.

“They have helped me to become a better player.”

Manlow sees basketball as a big piece of her high school experience.

“It’s a very important part,” she said. “I love my team and I love the sport and I definitely want to put my heart and soul into it.”

Saint Paul head coach Kristin McDonald loved her team’s performance for the first half and a bit of the second half. Leading 35-16 early in the third quarter, McDonald watched her team give up a 20-4 run to Saint Michael and lead by only a 39-36 margin in the final quarter.

Saint Paul looked like they had won the game when Emily Semark scored a basket with 4.2 seconds left, but Glaze won it for the Mustangs with a layup at the buzzer.

“We don’t have the discipline right now to maintain that kind of lead,” McDonald said. “We get excited and nervous and force it a little too much and that turns the ball over and gives the other team momentum.

“Once we hit a slump, its hard to go back.”

On the positive side, the Patriots have stretches where they look like a good basketball team.

“I’m still waiting and I don’t know why it’s taking so long, but we have periods of excellence in games here and there,” McDonald said. “Some days we are great on defence, some days we are great at the press and some days we can score, but it has never come together for four quarters yet.

“We have it, but it just needs to all come together.”

STATS PACK

Mustangs 57 Patriots 56

Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: Saint Michael’s Julie Manlow with 16 points and game-changing plays on defence and by distributing the ball.

For the Saint Michael Mustangs: Aliyah Glaze 26; Manlow 16; Jaden Callahan 7; Lauren Carter 4; Brooke Steinschifter 2; Kelsey Allan 1.

For the Saint Paul Patriots: Julia Garisto 8; Emily Semark 8; Livia Piccirillo 8; Julianna Fabiano 7; Maia MacLean 7; Vivian Lee 6; Hanna Dino 6; Josee Severin 4; Angeline Galati 2.