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Diehl plays beat the clock, Regina defeats Marian 37-35
n – Teresa Diehl did not shoot the ball on Tuesday. The senior guard from Warren Regina was 5-of-18 from the field but with the game tied and seven seconds left Diehl told coach Diane Laffey she wanted to take the big shot.
Diehl’s 6-foot runner with one second left gave Regina a 37-35 victory over Birmingham Marian in a Catholic League Central Division game at Regina.
It’s been a long time since Regina defeated Marian, so long in fact that Laffey can’t remember when it took place. She’s certain her team hadn’t defeated Marian since the 2004 season, the year Regina moved from Harper Woods to Warren. And Laffey is fairly certain it hasn’t happened since ’01.
“It had to be the late 90s,” she said. “We almost got them at Calihan Hall in 2001.”
Not many teams have had any type of success against Marian and coach Mary Cicerone over the years. The Mustangs are the defending Class A and league champions. Despite the loss Marian (7-3) remains in first place at 4-1. Regina (7-3) is ½ game behind at 3-1.
Regina never trailed and led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter. It led 27-18 at halftime and took its largest lead, 33-22, after a Diehl basket with 1:05 left in the third quarter.
That’s when Marian turned up the defensive pressure. Maria Hickey’s basket trimmed the deficit to 33-24 enter the fourth quarter and her 3-pointer made it a six-point game with 5:25 left.
Maria Kaschalk scored with 4:12 remaining and the Mustangs trailed 33-29. A few seconds later Marian forced Regina’s seventh turnover of the quarter, which led to a Lauren Montalbano basket.
Showing poise that would later pay greater dividends, Diehl made an 8-footer to push Regina’s lead by to four, 35-31, with 46 seconds left.
Uche Ike made a strong post move and scored with 28.4 seconds left to pull Marian to within 35-33. Regina missed a free throw and with 9.8 seconds left Marian missed two. But Elizabeth Grobbel got the rebound and scored with seven seconds left to tie the game.
“(Diehl) told me, give me the ball,” Laffey said. “They won’t stop me.”
Brimming with confidence, Diehl dribbled the length of the floor to score the game winner.
“It feels great,” Diehl said. “I was looking to go straight to the basket. I figured if I didn’t make it I’d draw a foul.
“They definitely made some big plays but we felt confident. This is our court.”
Diehl led Regina with 15 points and five rebounds. Lauren Valentini added 10 including the last six of the first half when Diehl was on the bench with two fouls.
Montalbano’s eight points topped Marian.
“We just didn’t do it defensively (at the end),” Cicerone said. “I told them to double team. We did play well in the fourth. I’m really kind of pleased. We scared the heck out of them.”
