They gave a better effort but ultimately came up short of their main objective. Sometimes, a few plays here and there decide big games which is exactly what transpired in the Berkeley Carroll Girls Varsity 48-38 loss to the Staten Island Academy Tigers- allowing their worthy opponents to capture the PSAA championship at Martin Luther High School Thursday afternoon.

Having advanced to a regular season rematch after a strong effort in the semis over host school Martin Luther, the Lions tried to settle the score and capture a league trophy. Instead, they were outgunned by tournament MVP Chelsea Aronica. The junior SIA guard came up with some big shots down the stretch to finish with over 20 for a second consecutive game. She also paced the Tigers with 26 in a semifinal win over Long Island Lutheran.

Early on, there was little separating the same teams who will also be meeting a third time next Monday at Staten Island Academy in the ACIS playoff semis. In fact, they were deadlocked at eight after a hard fought first quarter.

Despite some questionable touch calls which put her in early foul trouble, senior leading scorer Zoe Cohen was still able to play most of the first half and converted a couple of hoops in transition to put BC in front. However, SIA 1,000-plus scorer Alexa Milchman found the range draining a couple of deep three’s off well executed screens.

The top seeded Tigers’ hot shooting from the perimeter helped keep them afloat allowing Mike Reape’s club to stay deadlocked with Walter Paller’s tied at 22 through one half.

Following an early Aronica runner, some excellent passing freed up sophomore Tess Salvatore for a top of the key trey which she banked in to give her school a one-point lead. But seemingly everytime it looked like the Lions were ready to make a run, the tournament MVP stepped up. She connected on at least three from downtown and helped make up for an off night by Milchman, who was held in check by BC for either 14 or 15.

A critical Lions’ possession in the final 30 seconds turned a two-point deficit into four. With Coach Paller asking his team to hold for one shot, instead Mia James took a wide open three from the key with seven seconds left. Unfortunately, it didn’t go and allowed SIA to get an easy deuce as Milchman laid one home before the buzzer.

The Tigers got an early basket to increase their lead to six but the Lions hung around thanks to a solid effort from freshman Keyanka Bailey. Having hit a left baseline three in the first half, she scored inside and out during a productive final quarter which saw her get more than half her 15 or 16 point total. She also setup Cohen for an easy hoop in transition after a block and steal which got the deficit back down to two.

A frustrated Reape used a timeout to fire up his club. It apparently worked as they setup an easy lay-up for returning 6-3 center Mayana LeGrande, who missed significant time due to a broken bone in her foot this season.

Money all game despite being chastised by her demanding coach, Aronica helped finish off the Lions with another basket and a few free throws after Paller had seen enough of the officials and got a technical. His team was already down eight with about a minute left.

To their credit, BC played to the final buzzer with Bailey draining her second trifecta from the right wing as Paller used another timeout urging his players to go for the steal without Cohen, who fouled out. The floor leader finished with 15.

Ultimately, they ran out of time allowing the Tigers to win by 10 and take home the championship trophy along with a deserving Aronica netting MVP.

Notes: The ACIS semifinal between the Lions and Tigers is slated for 4:30 Monday afternoon in Todt Hill. The ACIS championship is the following day at 4 over at Poly Tech.