After having a near two-week hiatus from action, the St. Vincent girls basketball team played two games in three days last week.
First off, the Indians (12-2) absolutely handled JCAA Small School Conference opponent Grandview (2-7) by nearly 50 points at 68-22 Thursday at home.
Two days later, Class 2 No. 3 ranked St. Vincent then played against arguably the second-best team in all of Missouri, the reigning Class 4 state champions and now Class 5 No. 1 Lift for Life Academy (10-4).
The Hawks’ lone loss to a Missouri team this season came against nationally ranked and Class 6 No. 1 Incarnate Word Academy (9-1) 65-47 in the Visitation Christmas Tournament title game. Outside of that, the Hawks have only lost to teams from Chicago and Georgia.
The Indians traveled up to St. Louis for the last-minute scheduled matchup with Lift for Life in the nightcap of the team’s second annual Sweet Hoops Showcase Saturday evening, which was hosted at Harris-Stowe.
Both teams matched up extremely well with their fast-paced, in-your-face style of play. In front of what was basically a home crowd for Lift for Life, St. Vincent actually took a 12-11 lead over the favored Hawks to end the first quarter.
After having 18 points, six rebounds and five assists over Grandview, Indians junior forward Kate Rubel, who is no stranger to playing against high-level competition, showed out on the biggest stage of the season thus far versus Lift for Life.
Rubel took over the game in the first quarter and on, working her way through and around a smothering Hawks defense to lead St. Vincent’s scoring attack. Kate finished the game with a team-high 13 points, shooting 55 percent from the field and nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds along with two assists.
“We just run the ball as fast as we can,” Rubel noted. “We’ve got to get the ball out and get our post running down court. Just moving fast — that’s how we like to play. Our chemistry is great right now. Everyone knows to make one more pass, and we always get the ball to the hot hand. It’s just what you do.”
Another key for the Indians offense was St. Vincent senior forward Allie Patrick, who knocked down a 3-pointer for her team to take a 21-17 lead late in the second quarter. Patrick had another 3 in the contest, pacing Rubel with 11 points, five boards and two assists of her own.
Another player who came up big for St. Vincent in the first half was junior guard Lana Adams as she produced two takeaways. She ended up finishing as the Indians’ third-leading scorer with 10 points outside of her four rebounds and two assists.
Even though this Indian didn’t score in double figures, Kate’s twin sister, junior guard Brie Rubel, was key defensively (two steals), on the glass (six rebounds) and in the passing attack with a team-high five assists. Brie’s steals were certainly momentum-switching, one notably where she read a pass and glided through the air to pick off the ball for a turnover.
It was plays like this that led to quick buckets for St. Vincent to take the lead, but Lift for Life’s defense specializes in such an aspect. This style allowed the Hawks to go on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to take a 27-21 lead heading into the locker room.
Lift for Life went up by 10 at 31-21 early in the third quarter, but despite that, the Indians had made one more push in them. It all started when Kate Rubel went over the Hawks’ defense for a putback score.
While Lift for Life answered after Kate’s bucket, Brie Rubel came up with her biggest points of the game after spinning out a Hawks defender and then drawing a foul for an and-1 score after a successful layup.
To end up only trailing Lift for Life 33-29 with a little over two minutes left in the third quarter, Patrick also drew a foul on her shot attempt and sank back-to-back free throws. This was after St. Vincent’s defense stepped up big once again to keep the Hawks scoreless.
However, Lift for Life’s relentless attack on both ends ended up being too much after the Indians made a few frustrating turnovers and only scored 10 more points in the contest. This led the Hawks to eventually win 57-39, outscoring St. Vincent 18-10 for the fourth and final quarter.
Even though the Indians suffered their second loss of the season, they certainly didn’t get “beat” as they had Class 5 No. 1 ranked Lift for Life on the ropes and held the Hawks to their second-lowest scoring output versus in-state competition. This is certainly a testament to what St. Vincent can accomplish in Class 2 this season as the team hopes to make the state final four for the first time in program history.
Looking back at the Indians’ 46-point win over Grandview, junior guard Rylee Robinson paced Kate Rubel’s 18 points with 15 of her own off a game-high five 3-pointers. Patrick also had three 3s with 13 points, while Adams (11 points) and Brie also hit treys.
“After each practice, we have to make a certain amount of 3s, and that’s really been helping, so we’re starting to get on track,” Robinson said. “Playing with a team like this is something I’ve never gotten to do before.
“You never know who’s going to shoot, but I always have confidence with whoever does. When someone shoots, we’re always getting ready to run back [on defense] because we all have confidence in each other. It is awesome — it’s so fun to play.”
Through the last two games since St. Vincent’s second break of the season, Kate Rubel has averaged 15.5 points, seven rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 78.5 percent at the free-throw line. She went 8-for-8 at the charity stripe against Grandview.
“It’s all about seeing a little bit of an opening area and some kill spots that I’ve worked over the break and that we’ve been able to work on and talk as a team with,” Kate said. “We’ve all been working on hitting our free throws and hitting your shots — those are just big deals.”
At noon this Saturday at home, the Indians will be back in action against out-of-state Waterloo (10-13) out of Illinois.
St. Vincent has three games next week, starting on the road against JCAA opponent Jefferson (8-7) Tuesday at Festus and will then return home versus Woodland (7-4) Wednesday. Lastly, the Indians are set to face crosstown rival Perryville (6-6) in the Mayor’s Cup on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Perry Park Center.
