Marist junior Caroline Flynn grew up playing point guard.
So no matter how long she’s played, how much she’s developed her all-around game, she still has the same mentality.
Flynn is looking to pass, distribute and dish the ball.
But she can also score, as she did in the title game of Oak Lawn’s Spartan Holiday Tournament on Dec. 20. Flynn had 15 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, but Marist fell 69-61 to Providence.
“I’ve always been a pass-first kind of player,” Flynn said. “As I grew up, I realized as a basketball player I needed to score, too, and get my shots up in order to be that all-around player.”
Flynn added five rebounds and two steals in the title game.
Junior forward Lily Porter led the RedHawks with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Porter and senior Livi Cosme were named to the all-tournament team.
Juniors Olivia Barsch (eight points), Grace Harmon (seven points) and Avery Mullaghy (six points) and senior Lucy Cosme (six points, six rebounds) were also key contributors.
Flynn, a 5-6 guard, is a three-year varsity starter for Marist (11-2) who also contributes sticky defense in addition to scoring.
Marist led most of the first half before a last-second Providence 3-pointer gave the Celtics a 29-28 halftime advantage. Providence pulled away in the third quarter, putting Marist in chase mode.
With Porter fouling out with two-plus minutes left, Flynn went to work. She hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key, scored on a hard drive to the hoop and swished two free throws.
An 11-point deficit shrunk to four, but the RedHawks couldn’t get over the hump.
“I knew we had nothing to lose,” Flynn said. “I had to put it all out there and do whatever I could to get us closer to winning.”
Marist coach Renee Chimino said she’s always pushing Flynn to look for her own shot more, as she did late in the team’s run to a Class 4A supersectional last year.
“Caroline wants to get her teammates the ball and play defense that leads to offense,” Chimino said. “That’s the type of player she is by nature. She started to come together with scoring. That’s even better for us. Caroline is great all-around.”
Marist’s other loss is to Carmel in East Suburban Catholic play.
Flynn said one tough loss to Providence won’t slow the RedHawks down.
“We learn from our mistakes,” she said. “Whatever puts you down in a game, we learned from it and keep pushing hard. I know we can compete with the best teams, so we have to keep our heads up.”
Porter echoed Flynn’s sentiments ahead of the Montini Christmas Tournament.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” Porter said. “Even after a loss, we pick each other back up. We’ll be back for the next game. We learn from it and use those lessons against the good teams we’ll face at Montini.”