Notre Dame girls basketball goes 4-0 to start Fitzpatrick era
January 3, 2025 at 7:00 a.m.
In her first season as the Notre Dame High, Lawrenceville, girls basketball coach, Beth Fitzpatrick’s main concern is steady improvement by her team. The Irish have done that and, as a bonus, they enter the new year undefeated.
“Our goal is we want to be better today than we were yesterday,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every game we gel a little more, get a little better and it carries us over to the next day. We’re 4-0, that’s what we hoped we would be. We are fortunate, we’re in a really good place.”
The Irish have not played a strong early-season schedule but that does not diminish the fact that Notre Dame has played well and won convincingly. It defeated three teams by a combined 97 points and managed to rally for a one-point win over Steinert after trailing by six in the fourth quarter.
The Spartan game marked the season’s first game for senior forward Izzy Diaz, who suffered a volleyball injury in the fall. Her return was welcome, but ND had to re-adjust its chemistry.
“We threw Izzy into the fire, we knew she had to get going,” Fitzpatrick said. “We just chipped away; put on a timely press to get some baskets. We figured out a way to win. Steinert is better than its (2-4) record. They’re going to beat some good teams.”
Junior Caroline Foley and senior Meghan Connolly have spearheaded the Irish attack. Both are averaging 10 points per game entering ND’s Jan. 3 contest with Ewing. Foley is second on the team in rebounds (24) and assists (8), while Connolly leads in assists (11) and is second in steals (14).
“Caroline Foley is a really good shooter, and during practice she is starting to drain them from three,” Fitzpatrick said. “That hasn’t happened yet in a game. We’ve worked on it, and she’s such a complete player she doesn’t have to live and die by the three. If you have space to shoot you have space on the floor to dribble drive. She is doing that. She’s hitting little mid-range jumpers, she crashes the boards, she runs the floor, so her game is becoming more whole. It’s really fun to see.”
Connolly leads the team in 3-pointers with eight and has been asked to run the offense several times after regular point guard Alayna Ramirez got in early foul trouble.
“Meg has had to run the point and still score for us,” Fitzpatrick said. “She had four three-pointers in her last game so she’s shooting it well.”
Despite her foul issues, Ramirez averages nine points and leads the team with 15 steals; but sometimes her defensive eagerness leads to fouls.
“She has to learn to read the game and realize every game is called differently and we have to adjust,” Fitzpatrick said. “We work hard playing defense with our feet and I tell them you’re going to get the steal off the pass, you can’t put your hands on them, you can’t ride them. And she is learning.”
Another contributor has been junior Grace Hempsell, who leads the Irish with 26 rebounds. Diaz is slowly rounding into form and should soon become an impact player.
“They’re all so tough and so gritty,” Fitzpatrick said. “They come and work so hard. We focus on defense. Our defense is getting better. We want to push the ball, we’re doing that. So, things are starting to fall into place.
“I told them we’re on a climb; that’s our thing this year,” the coach continued. “Where we start (performance-wise) is not where we’re gonna finish. We just want to be better every day. So far, we’ve been able to do that. You want to win, and we’re doing that.”
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In her first season as the Notre Dame High, Lawrenceville, girls basketball coach, Beth Fitzpatrick’s main concern is steady improvement by her team. The Irish have done that and, as a bonus, they enter the new year undefeated.
“Our goal is we want to be better today than we were yesterday,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every game we gel a little more, get a little better and it carries us over to the next day. We’re 4-0, that’s what we hoped we would be. We are fortunate, we’re in a really good place.”
The Irish have not played a strong early-season schedule but that does not diminish the fact that Notre Dame has played well and won convincingly. It defeated three teams by a combined 97 points and managed to rally for a one-point win over Steinert after trailing by six in the fourth quarter.
The Spartan game marked the season’s first game for senior forward Izzy Diaz, who suffered a volleyball injury in the fall. Her return was welcome, but ND had to re-adjust its chemistry.
“We threw Izzy into the fire, we knew she had to get going,” Fitzpatrick said. “We just chipped away; put on a timely press to get some baskets. We figured out a way to win. Steinert is better than its (2-4) record. They’re going to beat some good teams.”
Junior Caroline Foley and senior Meghan Connolly have spearheaded the Irish attack. Both are averaging 10 points per game entering ND’s Jan. 3 contest with Ewing. Foley is second on the team in rebounds (24) and assists (8), while Connolly leads in assists (11) and is second in steals (14).
“Caroline Foley is a really good shooter, and during practice she is starting to drain them from three,” Fitzpatrick said. “That hasn’t happened yet in a game. We’ve worked on it, and she’s such a complete player she doesn’t have to live and die by the three. If you have space to shoot you have space on the floor to dribble drive. She is doing that. She’s hitting little mid-range jumpers, she crashes the boards, she runs the floor, so her game is becoming more whole. It’s really fun to see.”
Connolly leads the team in 3-pointers with eight and has been asked to run the offense several times after regular point guard Alayna Ramirez got in early foul trouble.
“Meg has had to run the point and still score for us,” Fitzpatrick said. “She had four three-pointers in her last game so she’s shooting it well.”
Despite her foul issues, Ramirez averages nine points and leads the team with 15 steals; but sometimes her defensive eagerness leads to fouls.
“She has to learn to read the game and realize every game is called differently and we have to adjust,” Fitzpatrick said. “We work hard playing defense with our feet and I tell them you’re going to get the steal off the pass, you can’t put your hands on them, you can’t ride them. And she is learning.”
Another contributor has been junior Grace Hempsell, who leads the Irish with 26 rebounds. Diaz is slowly rounding into form and should soon become an impact player.
“They’re all so tough and so gritty,” Fitzpatrick said. “They come and work so hard. We focus on defense. Our defense is getting better. We want to push the ball, we’re doing that. So, things are starting to fall into place.
“I told them we’re on a climb; that’s our thing this year,” the coach continued. “Where we start (performance-wise) is not where we’re gonna finish. We just want to be better every day. So far, we’ve been able to do that. You want to win, and we’re doing that.”