Camden Catholic goes toe-to-toe with Manasquan before falling

In games like this, open looks beyond the arc are hard to come by.

"So when I saw my defender was playing off me, I thought: 'Let me just step up and take this three,' " Camden Catholic's Sierra Taylor said.

So she took it. And she buried it.

With four minutes left, Taylor's shot brought Camden Catholic within two points of last year's Tournament of Champions winner.

Taylor was visibly fired up when the shot went in. And the rest of the game - until Manasquan held on for a 54-45 win on clutch free-throw shooting - was vintage Camden Catholic girls' basketball.

It was up-tempo, physical, scrappy.

It was a style that defines the personalities of the team's three tenacious senior guards.

The elevated pace helped the Irish nearly erase an 11-point third-quarter deficit. And it helped them prove the point they were out to make:

"We can play with these teams," Taylor said after the Irish's first loss this season. "At the end of the day, they are not a better team than us. This is what we want to show, this is why we play these games."

The matchup was a showcase game at Eastern as part of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Taylor finished with nine points, four assists, and two steals. Fellow senior guard Taiah Thornton chipped in a team-high 12 points, five assists, and three steals. Another senior guard, Julia Braungart, netted 10 points for the Irish.

Faith Masonius (12 points), Stella Clark (14), and Dara Mabrey (12) each scored in double figures for Manasquan (13-5).

Thanks to its ability to control the tempo and keep the Irish energy in check, the Warriors led from the start and by as many as 11 in the third quarter before Camden Catholic found a rhythm.

Free throws also made a big difference.

Manasquan finished 13 of 16 from the foul line. The Irish made 9 of 19 attempts.

"You're not going to win big games if you don't shoot well from the foul line," said Camden Catholic coach Chris Palladino. "I thought we hustled, I thought we played hard. But we missed a few easy shots, and we missed too many foul shots."

This was Camden Catholic's first loss after opening the season with 16 wins.

"But it was a good experience," said freshman forward Eliana Santana. "This is going to make us want to push harder to win every game."

Santana has stepped into a major role in the Irish frontcourt with star center Brittany Garner still out with a knee injury.

Like her team, Santana looked stronger as the game went on, scoring six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter.

"These games help us. Now we know what to work on going into states," Taylor said. "We're going into states with a chip on our shoulder, and we're coming to play."

Manasquan 16 12 10 16 - 54

Camden Catholic 14 6 9 16 - 45

M: Faith Masonius 12, Stella Clark 14, Dara Mabrey 12, Carly Geissler 4, Nikki Stevens 2, Addie Masonius 10.

CC: Kate Deutsch 2, Eliana Santana 10, Taiah Thornton 12, Julia Braungart 10, Sierra Taylor 9, Erin Campbell 2.

rallysports@phillynews.com.