Tattnall offense struggles in physical 57-25 loss against St. Anne-Pacelli as Trojans’ season ends in playoffs

It felt like the Tattnall girls just could not catch a break in Stratford’s gym Friday night.

The Trojans — already the underdog as the No. 11 seed facing No. 3 St. Anne-Pacelli — lost their starting point guard to an ankle injury early and struggled on offense, eventually falling to the Vikings 57-25 in the second round of the GIAA 4A girls state tournament.

While Sara Kate Phillips’ ankle injury was luckily not as severe as some initially feared, it kept her out of the game after she went down under Tattnall’s basket about halfway through the second quarter. 

The Trojans had already struggled mightily to move the ball, committing turnover after turnover against a stout Pacelli defense. Losing Phillips only made things more difficult.

“They’re a great team, we were a little outmanned there. We’re really young, and I think we’ve got some growing to do, but they deserve a lot of credit,” Tattnall head coach Matt Chambless said. “We were hoping to give them a better game, but we’re an 11-seed, they’re a 3-seed. It’s kind of what’s supposed to happen, right? It was too hard to break that pressure, and losing our point guard there really hurts.”

The Trojans finished 11-14 on the year with the playoff loss, which the head coach used to reflect on the season.

“We graduated something like 90% of the scoring from last year, had two freshman guards who were really working for us. Our senior post players really did a great job for us,” Chambless said. “Kennedy Walton averaged a double-double this year, she’s been one of our great leaders. Anna Talcott has been a great rebounder for us.”

Tattnall showed flashes plenty of times during the year, even getting back-to-back wins over Mount de Sales and FPD, two solid region teams. The Trojans were plucky in the opening round despite their low seed, upsetting No. 6 King’s Academy with great plays from Carsyn Atwater and others.

They showed up early against the Vikings in a similar way, playing stingy defense to force outside shot attempts. St. Anne-Pacelli was stacked to the gills with shooters, however, and made enough of their deeper tries to dig the Trojans into a 15-4 hole as the first quarter ended.

A vocal Vikings fanbase encouraged the team as they kept making jumpers. It was a physical game as well, as the officiating crew kept the whistles in check and did not call many shooting fouls. St. Anne-Pacelli attempted only 14 free throws, while the Trojans only took seven shots from the charity stripe.

“It was a physical game, and they have some serious size,” Chambless said of the Vikings. “We fought hard and had better experience to make it work. I’m real proud of our girls, and I do think our post players held their own out there.”

The Pacelli lead grew, but Tattnall did not back down, embracing the physical nature of the contest even if the Vikings’ press defense flustered them. The team kept playing hard late, even fouling a few times down the stretch to get some cheers from a small but mighty student section.

Though the Trojans will lose its two seniors in the post, its guard play will be back for another try next year.

“Those guards are coming back, I feel good about where they’re add. We’ll feel a ton better after getting more work in this summer, too,” Chambless said. “I’m proud of them. They didn’t give up, they didn’t roll over, so they get a lot of credit for that.”

St. Anne-Pacelli will go on to the semifinals in Columbus against No. 3 Stratford, which defeated No. 7 FPD in their second-round matchup Friday night.