Fontbonne Hall might be playing its best basketball of the season at the best possible time.
The top-seeded Bonnies’ man-to-man defense and smooth ball movement on offense gave No. 4 St. Edmund fits in a 46-34 win Thursday in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division II girls basketball semifinals at St. John’s Prep in Astoria.
The 12-point deficit was not indicative of how the game actually went. Fontbonne (11-4) led 14-4 after one quarter and 25-8 at halftime. The Bonnies reserves played most of the second half and all of the fourth quarter.
"Offensively, we were moving the ball much better than we have to create good shots,” FHA coach Steve Oliver said. “Once you start knocking down shots, it opens up everything else, especially for our post player (Annette Scotto) who is an undersized 4 in the league. She’s really opened the doors for the rest of the team.”
Scotto had 10 points, Jill Oliver (the coach’s daughter) had nine points and Katie Henderson added eight for the Division II regular-season champion. Fontbonne knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half, most after the defense tried to cave in on Scotto, who has emerged late in the season as a serious threat.
“We started knocking down shots from the outside,” Oliver said. “We were moving the ball well against the zone.”
The Bonnies have a chance to win their first Brooklyn/Queens Division II post season title in 10 years 4:30 p.m. Saturday when it meets No. 2 St. Saviour at Bishop Ford. Last year, Fontbonne won the regular-season title, but fell to St. John’s Prep in the tournament title game. FHA has beaten Saviour twice already this year.
“I think the program has come a long way as far as all aspects of sports at the school,” Oliver said.
Winning this one would be especially satisfying for Oliver, who came in with this group of seniors three years ago as junior varsity coach when they were all freshmen. He also has two daughters on the team – Jill, a senior recovering from ACL surgery, and Kate, a freshman defensive stopper and point guard.
With Scotto inside, Jill Oliver, Henderson and her younger sister Cindy Henderson have been lethal from the outside. St. Edmund (9-12), which was led by Cassandra Molinari’s 13 points, found that out early.
“I think we played like a really good team and showed our talent,” Scotto said.
St. Saviour will not be easy in the final, though. Pandas senior center Alyson Caiazzo exploded for 22 points against St. John’s Prep in the semis. At 6-foot-2, she towers over anyone on Fontbonne. Scotto will have the unenviable task of guarding her.
“I’m a little nervous,” she admitted. “[The key is to] try to have her not get the ball. I think we’ll be fine. It’ll be a good game, though.”
mraimondi@nypost.com
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