The Battle over the Bridge was a shell of itself, off the court. On the court, it was as normal as ever. That was evident as every single player that got into the paint had to work for their shot, nothing came easy. I was evident as both teams hounded the ball as soon as it got across half-court, or sooner.

What was also evident was that both of these teams have been very limited on what they’ve been able to do so far this season as they persist through quarantines and contact tracings. Both teams will improve and iron out some of the early issues.

St. Joe’s junior Ryan Elbert was first to strike, and although Clare Chambers answered briefly, Elbert didn’t let up. Three minutes into the game the hot-handed Elbert racked up 11 points and a trio of bombs from behind the arc. A less than joyful timeout ensued, and the Streaks responded. The stern words from Coach Gallagher led to the Streaks holding the Jags scoreless the final five minutes of the first quarter.

The frustration seemed to boil for Magnificat as the second quarter was filled with unforced errors and lots of whistles. Though most of those whistles didn’t benefit the team in blue, they hung close. St. Joseph’s held onto a four point lead for what seemed like an eternity, before expanding it to a 24-16 halftime lead just as the half was winding down.

Senior Charlotte Adler helped keep the Jags on top as she scored seven of her ten points in the second stanza. The Rochester commit had a few coast to coast layups along with multiple trips to the foul line to keep separation just before both teams traded charging calls in the last five seconds of the half.

Slowly but surely Joe’s extended the lead as junior sharpshooter Ella Neitzel picked up where Elbert left off in the first half. The junior had a couple triples in the 3rd en route to her 14 points, all but one in the second half.

Mags got stops, but they just couldn’t get the ball to fall as the lead slipped to a 47-31 final. Junior Cam Jones led the Streaks with 12 points as she dropped in some nice midrange jumpers and cleaned the offensive glass on a few occasions. Elbert had a game high of 15 points, 12 of those in the first half. Ava Haddad, a very talented post for Joe’s had her Rodman game tonight. The high energy junior scored zero points, but pulled down at least 10 boards.

I will have to make a return to this rivalry when we can pack people into gyms again. Rumor has it that it’s standing room only, and the student sections take over one half of the gym, with each team getting their fair half of the half. I volunteer myself to return again to either confirm or deny these allegations.