Youthful Mount St. Dominic Girls Hoops Hopeful for Run in Tough State Section

The Mount St. Dominic girls basketball team is pinning the hopes of its difficult schedule this season will result in at least a couple of victories in the upcoming state tournament.

The Lions will start its state voyage on Feb. 26 when they host 12th-seeded Holy Angels at home in Caldwell in the Non-Public North A state tournament. A win over Holy Angels would send Mount St. Dominic to the state sectional quarterfinals against the winner of 13th-seeded Newark Academy-fourth-seeded DePaul on March 2. The top seed in the section, is Morris Catholic, one of the top rated squads in New Jersey.

The Lions could face the Crusaders in the state sectional semifinals on March 5.
After falling short of upsetting Arts in the Essex County Tournament, Mount St. Dominic faced a challenging schedule heading into the state tournament. The Lions lost three of four contests including Caldwell, one of the top teams in the county.

Mount St. Dominic girls basketball acting head coach Kyla Ramseur has a list of what she took in about the recent stretch between the loss to Arts and heading into the state tournament.

"What I’ve learned is that if we want to win a couple of games in the states, we need to box out, hit open shots, bring consistent energy and communicate and play as a team," said Ramseur. "When we bring high energy and confidence, we can compete with the best."

She knows that teams like top-seeded Morris Catholic and other of the top seeds in the section show on the court. "Good teams work hard, bring consistent energy, and play together at all times and we have to match that, which we’re absolutely capable of doing," said Ramseur.

Mount St. Dominic is banking on the experience that a mainly underclassmen squad will take the battles in the regular season and utilize it in the state tournament.

The Lions finished the regular season with a 14-11 overall record.

Mount St. Dominic almost took a victory into the state tournament at home on Feb. 19.

The Lions could not catch up to four-loss Bernards in Caldwell in an independent contest.

Mount St. Dominic sophomore Gia McArdle continued to be the hot hand on the court as she collected a game-high 26 points against Bernards.

The Lions could not keep up with the Bernards depth in the second half. Bernards had eight players who reached the score sheet while Mount St. Dominic had five to register points in the contest.

Outside of McArdle's game-high scoring blitz, freshman Hailey Root chipped in eight points. Both junior Bella Iannitelli and sophomore Izzy DeLorenzo contributed six points each. Iannitelli led the Lions with six rebounds. One of the few seniors on the squad, Jackie Karcic added three points, two rebounds and two assists.

Indoor Track and Field

The Mount St. Dominic girls indoor track and field team warmed up for the upcoming outdoor season in the Non-Public A indoor championships on Feb. 20 in Toms River.

The Lions team had its best results in the field side of the championship meet.

Senior Janiyah Dunmore took a 10th place finish in the shot put with a toss of 28-feet-6-inches. Junior Maria Bellen Icasa came in 19th in the shot put with a mark of 25-feet-5.5.

After the shot put, the high jump had the next best result for Mount St. Dominic.

Another junior, Madeleine Williams, had the best result for the Lions with a leap of 4-feet-4 for 18th in the high jump.