By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — With their focus on stopping Sacred Heart-New Orleans point guard Lane Solow, St. Charles Catholic was able to keep the Cardinals’ scoring leader under control for much of the second half.

But as soon as the freshman got a sliver of daylight, she made it count.

Solow drilled a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to tie Thursday night’s game, then sank two free throws with eight seconds left to put her team ahead for good in Sacred Heart’s 34-32 victory at St. Charles.

Solow drilled her 3-pointer coming off of a screen; the Comets contested, but she didn’t need much room.

She then made a key defensive play at the other end, pressuring SCC into an over-and-back violation with 16 seconds left. She drew a foul thereafter; with St. Charles in the one-and-one penalty, she drained both shots.

“We played a box-and-one on her (on the 3-pointer),” said St. Charles coach Larry Betancourt. “We wanted to force her off of her strong hand … but she put one up there and it went in. Then she hit two big free throws. She just made plays.

“Down the stretch, we didn’t do the things we needed to do. That turnover near the end hurt.”

The Comets (3-5) had one final chance to win, but Kaitlyn Lowry’s foul line jumper fell no good and Sacred Heart had successfully rallied for the win.

Solow finished with 18 points, leading all scorers.

Sacred Heart coach Micki Andry said that even at such a young age, Solow — who has played varsity for Andry since Solow’s 7th grade year — has a knack for making such plays in the clutch.

“You put the ball in her hands and she’ll take it,” said Andry. “She’s played since the 7th grade and she knows what I expect. Sometimes, she’ll take the freshman shots … but the one thing about her is she’s not scared of anything. That was the first thing I saw about her. You could be 6’3, and she’ll take it right at you.”

St. Charles led 32-27 at one point in the fourth quarter. The Lady Comets themselves rallied for that lead after falling behind 11-2 in the first quarter.

The Comets trailed 14-10 at halftime but began to turn things around in the third quarter, thanks in part to a spark by Brittany Tregre off the bench. Tregre hit a jumper to get SCC started; she and Lowry each traded buckets with Kyle Maher and Ashton Rabalais.

SCC tied the game at 18 on a Tregre jumper, then took its first lead of the night on a drive and layup by Jaelen Bryant with 3:03 left in the third quarter. Tregre drove for another SCC score to make it 22-18.

“(Tregre) came off the bench and did a great job,” said Betancourt. “She gave us a lift both offensively and defensively and made some big shots.”

Solow canned a 3 to make it 22-21, but Tregre found Julia Cupit inside for a score to push the lead to 24-21 entering the fourth quarter.

Sacred Heart (4-9) regained the lead on a quick four-point run by Maher. The Comet defense began to step up though, highlighted by Bryant stopping consecutive drives on a pair of blocks and a steal — she’d collect three blocked shots and two steals in the fourth quarter alone.

Tregre made a layup to put SCC back ahead. Cupit answered a Solow runner with a putback as SCC began to assert itself on the offensive glass; Madeline Murphy and Lowry followed up with putbacks of their own to give the Comets a 32-27 lead.

“The girls did a nice job of running the offense and generating a number of second chance opportunities,” said Betancourt.

But the final minute belonged to Solow; she hit a pull up jumper, then her 3-pointer initiated the game-winning sequence.

Tregre led SCC with eight points. Lowry and Murphy each scored six.

St. Charles began the season 3-0, but has lost five straight.

The loss of point guard Courtney Snyder has coincided with the streak.

 Snyder left the team’s fourth game of the season due to a medical issue after a strong start to the year and has not yet been cleared to return.

Bryant, the team’s leading rebounder a season ago, has shifted from forward to point guard in her absence.

“(Snyder) is a 15 point-per-game scorer, a senior with experience. We miss her,” said Betancourt.

“Jaelen has stepped up and moved into that void … She’s explosive and athletic enough for the job. She just needs the experience. It’s a new position for her.”