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Central Catholic head coach Terry Murnen tries to rally his team in its Catholic High School League tournament game against Father Gabriel Richard.
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Fueled by adversity, Central Catholic girls basketball appears primed for postseason run

THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR

Fueled by adversity, Central Catholic girls basketball appears primed for postseason run

As a group, the Central Catholic girls basketball program has more on its collective mind than a typical high school team aspiring for a memorable postseason run this time of year.

From its acting head coach Terry Murnen, who left his post as head coach at St. Ursula Academy to return to his alma mater this season and serve as an assistant to Corri Stanley, to its talented players led by a core of four seniors — Brooklyn Vaughn, Corniya Clay, Sophia Farrugia, and Lauren Dempsey — this Irish team has a unique bond forged through tough moments and plays with an edge and tenacity to make the most of what it feels is an opportunity for redemption.

Following the departure of head coach Ericka Haney, whose time at Central Catholic was marred by recruiting violations that resulted in an OHSAA postseason tournament ban last season for players like Vaughn, Clay, Farrugia, and Dempsey, the theme this year has been “unfinished business.”

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“Our seniors especially felt like they got something taken away from them last year, which they did,” Murnen said. “They were not able to finish the season by no fault of their own. They kind of have a little chip on their shoulder and just want to take care of the business they felt they were left out of.”

With a skilled and experienced group returning from last season, the Irish turned to Stanley to lead the program this offseason. However, in July, Stanley’s 4-year-old son, Colton, was diagnosed with T-cell, lymphoblastic lymphoma, and Stanley decided to step away from the program and hand over the reigns to Murnen.

“I feel very blessed to be back here at Central Catholic, my alma mater,” Murnen said. “I was really looking forward to coming back and working with coach Stanley. Coach Stanley was a player when I was an assistant coach here my first go-around. When everything happened, it took me back a bit, and I felt an extreme amount of pressure. It felt like I had some pretty big shoes to fill. But the kids have made it really easy for me. They’ve bought into what we are trying to sell. We have great senior leadership, and they’ve done a nice job of bringing our sophomores along throughout the season. It’s been kind of bittersweet. I’m thrilled to be here as the acting head coach, but at the same token, it would be nice to have Corri right there next to me.”

Add in a transition to a new conference in the Catholic High School League and there was a lot of unknown prior to this season.

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But Murnen and his staff and players have embraced the challenges head-on. The Irish finished second in their division of the CHSL and second in the postseason tournament behind only Father Gabriel Richard, the top-ranked Division 1 team in Michigan.

“I think that a lot of changes just help you stay together internally when you have so many external changes,” Farrugia said. “I think that has really helped our whole team chemistry.”

After navigating the regular season with a 15-7 overall record, Central Catholic returned to the OHSAA tournament as a No. 6 seed in the Division II Old Fort district, and following a win over Lake, the Irish earned a hard-fought sectional title with a 62-52 victory over No. 3 seed Shelby on the home court of the Whippets.

Central Catholic is now set for a district semifinal game against No. 5 seed Port Clinton on Thursday at Old Fort.

When he took over the team, Murnen knew there would be a transition process to a new coaching staff and style of play, but he felt he could lean on his defense-first mentality. He said he is lucky that he has an athletic group of players who can play hard-nosed, sound defense that often quickly turns into offensive transition due to heavy ball pressure that can cause turnovers.

“I’m a defensive coach more so than anything else, and I’ve always told my players that if they don’t like the word defense, they can look at it as extended offense,” Murnen said. “We’re looking to force the other team into turnovers and being able to run the floor. With our makeup of the team, it plays right into that. We’re very athletic and like to run the floor and get after it defensively. As a coach, you have to adapt to your players and it was an easy adaptation for me because of the talent that we have.”

So far, that style has worked.

In what has been a whirlwind of a year for Central Catholic, the Irish are right where they want to be, playing good basketball at the right time of the season.  After a 7-5 start to the season, Central Catholic is 9-2 in its last 11 games.

“This season has been full of many highs for us,” Dempsey said. “We’ve faced some challenges and adversities through a lot of tough teams. We’ve learned how to get through all the stuff we’ve struggled with and we’ve really smoothed things out to get better for tournament time which has been our goal all season.”

For Vaughn and the seniors, the postseason is a mix of excitement and anticipation, knowing every detail is important because, with every win, the opposition only becomes tougher.

“This is a really good time for us,” Vaughn said. “It’s really exciting. I’m determined to come into practice and work hard and really be focused. Yes, it’s supposed to be fun, but it’s also going to be hard. If we want it to be our end goal of winning the biggest prize, the state championship, we need to come in and work hard. It’s definitely task-oriented and goal-focused.”

Through everything, Central Catholic has kept Colton, Corri, and the Stanley family in their thoughts. The Irish wear a “Colton Strong” ribbon on their warmup jerseys and say a prayer before every practice and game for the Stanley family.

“Colton Stanley is our push and our drive,” Clay said. “Every practice and every game is for them and one of the reasons I want to win and work hard is for them. Nothing has changed. They are still around and we are still rooting for them just as much as they are rooting for us. We are pushing hard to make them proud and have them in the back of our minds.”

Added Murnen: “[Colton] has his good days and his bad days. We just can’t imagine what they are going through. We kind of tell each other, ‘Hey, what would Colton do in this situation?’ Here’s a 4-year-old kid fighting for his life, and it kind of puts things into perspective.”

First Published February 27, 2024, 6:14 p.m.

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Central Catholic head coach Terry Murnen tries to rally his team in its Catholic High School League tournament game against Father Gabriel Richard.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
Central Catholic senior Brooklyn Vaughn makes a no-look pass during a game against Father Gabriel Richard.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
Central Catholic's Corniya Clay passes the ball during a game against Father Gabriel Richard this season.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
Central Catholic's Sophia Farrugia takes a contested shot against Father Gabriel Richard during a game this season.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
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