Whitnall Girls Hoops Team Comes Up Short in Regional

A furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short as the Whitnall girls basketball team's season ended with a 53-50 loss at Catholic Memorial on Tuesday in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal.

The Falcons trailed, 45-34, to start the fourth quarter and, 51-39, with four minutes remaining before making it interesting. They held the Crusaders without a field goal in the fourth - all eight of Memorial's points came from the free-throw line - and had possession of the ball with 3 seconds to go.

The inbounds pass, however, went out of bounds, leaving Whitnall with a season-ending 11-11 record.

"The girls played hard but we came up short," Whitnall coach Keith Larson said. "We needed another 30 seconds. Tough way to end the season but I'm proud of our effort."

Kalina Al-Mohareb and Elena Busalacchi had 14 points apiece for the Falcons. Four Crusaders had 10 or more, led by Allison Mueller's game-high 16.

Memorial made seven 3-pointers, including six in the first half.

"Memorial shoots the 3 as well as any team I have seen," Larson said. "Not just one, but four players are comfortable shooting it.