Turco sparks key 3Q run as Crusaders take down Holy Spirit

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

OCEAN CITY — The Holy Spirit High School girls basketball team took a 29-27 lead over Wildwood Catholic in the third quarter of Sunday’s game at the 97.3 ESPN Radio Girls Shootout at Ocean City High School.

That’s when Gabby Turco worked her magic.

After Lauren McCallion tied the game with a layup, Turco hit back-to-back three-point shots and later fed McCallion for another basket as the Crusaders finished the quarter on a 10-0 run.

Wildwood Catholic went on to outscore the Spartans 10-4 in the fourth quarter and came away with a solid 47-33 victory.

“I thought our defensive intensity picked up and we started to put the ball in the basket,” Wildwood Catholic coach Steve DiPatri said.

Turco shot 8 for 14 from the floor and scored a game-high 21 points. She also had game highs of 13 rebounds and four steals.

“Gabby stepped up real big for us offensively,” DiPatri said. “We needed that.”

McCallion added 10 points and five rebounds for Wildwood Catholic (14-3).

Holy Spirit (3-13) got 10 points from Jules Lynch. DiPatri said he was concerned prior to the game about the Spartans’ ability to rebound on the offensive end, but Spirit had just six offensive rebounds as a team.

“This is absolutely a good win,” DiPatri said. “Some of their strengths concerned us. We had to really game plan for them. To hold (senior forward) Zhyana Young to two offensive rebounds was a big accomplishment for us.”