Louisville Has a Night to Remember

How long has it been since Louisville High defeated Notre Dame in girls’ basketball?

Longer than anyone at the all-girls’ school in Woodland Hills can recall.

“About seven years,” Louisville Coach Paula Getty-Shearer said. “No one really knows. We don’t keep records at this school.”

The Royals, however, won’t soon forget Thursday night’s 53-48 victory over Notre Dame in a Mission League opener at Louisville.

If the Royals do continue their turnaround under second-year Coach Getty-Shearer, this victory might be a milestone.

Louisville (10-5) built a 31-23 halftime lead thanks largely to the inside penetration of senior center Adriane Bilek, who scored 12 of her 15 points by intermission and finished with nine rebounds.

The Royals extended their lead to 42-30 after three quarters, then held off a Notre Dame rally.

Notre Dame (9-4) scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter, pulling even with five minutes to play. The Knights tied the score two more times before moving ahead, 48-47, on Stacey Phillips’ turnaround jump shot with 1 minute 30 seconds to play.

But Louisville answered with a basket by Roxy Romo to take the lead for good. Teresa Delgado added a breakaway layup, and Peggy Johnson and Becky Witt added free throws in the final seconds.

“They collapsed a little bit, but they didn’t fold,” Getty-Shearer said of her players. “Our girls were pumped and they were ready for this.”

Louisville, 5-19 two years ago, improved to 13-12 last season and placed third in the league behind Alemany and Notre Dame.

Preseason prognostications ranked Louisville a step behind both teams this year.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Alemany and Notre Dame,’ ” Getty-Shearer said. “They’re definitely great teams. But all we wanted was a little respect.”

The loss was devastating for Coach Rob DiMuro and the Knights, who held a 15-minute closed-door meeting after the game.

“I don’t know if we’re feeling like a big, fat target, but maybe this was good for us,” DiMuro said. “Maybe we needed to get kicked around a little.

“You gotta give [Louisville] credit. They wanted it.”

Notre Dame’s Lourdes Slinsky had 12 points and Phillips added 10.

Witt, an all-league guard last season, scored eight points despite being hobbled by a severely sprained ankle. She sat out the last two games.