Tuesday, 2/25
Easton 58, Liberty 40
Last time out, Easton scored just 30 points in a 30-20 quarterfinal victory over Dieruff. Against Liberty, they had 22 by half and rolled to a semifinal win. For a Liberty team coming off a 19 point victory over Nazareth, emotions were running high as Ava Kopetskie neared the 1,000 point mark in a packed gymnasium ready to experience the moment with her.
Easton took advantage of that emotion early and often. Natalie Amato got things started with a 3-ball just a minute into the first quarter. She would hit again from distance, as the Rovers built a 10-2 lead. Kopetskie provided the lone Hurricanes bucket in the opening stanza. Elena Brunetti banked in a shot from straight on to end the strong quarter for Easton.
Easton kept the pedal down in the second, turning Liberty over ten times in the first half. Despite ten turnovers of their own, Liberty could not finish on the other end, settling for several one-and-done opportunities and going 2-for-11 from range. Meanwhile, Melina Cole heated up in the second, hitting twice from beyond the arc. Her second came from the corner and gave Easton an 18-4 lead. The two points for Liberty came from Kopetskie at the free throw line as she inched just six points away from the career milestone.
The lead was extended to 22-8 when Brunetti got a little runner to go in the lane. The Hurricanes scored the final five points of the quarter to draw Liberty closer. Tula Sobrinski hit from deep with :40 left and Anijah Davis got one to go with five seconds left.
Easton came out even stronger in the third quarter. Kourin Carew from the top of the key found Amato in the left corner for 3-pointer, extending the lead to 27-13.
Then the moment came. Kopetskie had hit a triple earlier in the third and needed just three points to reach 1,000.
She took a cross-court pass from Anijah Davis and drained the wing 3-pointer. Officials did not immediately stop the game but were quickly informed of what had happened.
Unfortunately for Liberty, that shot only made the score 40-16, as Easton would continue to pull away. However, it was evident that a pressure had been released from the Hurricanes bench. The team scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and sank four 3-balls in the quarter.
Impressively, Easton made 18 of their 19 second half free throws to cement the semifinal victory. Amato finished with 15 points; Gabby Wismer and Kourin Carew contributed 12 more. The three combined to go 19-for-19 from the charity stripe.
Natalie Amato talked about the hot start, “I think it brought a lot of momentum to our team and it kept us up with the energy.”
“I think we just kept our composure, kept our poise, and we worked really well together as a team. It feels really good to get the win and keep moving on. We just want to finish it off.”
Parkland 51, Emmaus 42(Broadcast)
Parkland head coach Ed Ohlson is the master of making adjustments. With three prior meetings to review against the Green Hornets, all Trojans losses, he ahd plenty of film and ideas to work with. Even more importantly, his team showed an enormous amount of resilience and fight, erasing two early nine point deficits as part of an 18-point swing to hand Emmaus just its second loss of the year.
It was all Hornets early. Cassie Doemling’s jumper got the scoring started and Kayla Snyder’s floater in the lane made it 4-0 early. Sylvia Sokolofski put back a Gabby DeVita miss, getting multiple Emmaus players involved early on.
DeVita and Snyder picked up their first fouls early, but the Emmaus defense kept the pressure on and forced Parkland beyond the 3-point line, closing out on shooters. Emmaus got to all of the 50/50 balls early and snagged a couple of offensive rebounds to extend possessions. Parkland’s possessions were time consuming because Emmaus’ defense kept hounding the Trojans. In bad news for the Hornets, Gabby DeVita picked up her second foul on a reach in the backcourt. Delaney Chilcote had all four for the Trojans, as Parkland trailed 13-4.
Disaster struck for Emmaus late in the first. DeVita was whistled for an over the back foul with 14 seconds left in the quarter, her third of the night.
Instant offense from Olive Whitney was the opening story of the second quarter, as her 3-ball put Emmaus up by their largest lead of the game at 16-4. Parkland responded quickly with an Aneri McGalla triple.
Parkland closed the half on a 17-6 run, hitting four of six free throws and another trey from McGalla and Cunningham. The Trojans scored their last ten points of the half inside three minutes to go, finally getting second chance opportunities and working the ball inside. After going two of their first seven from the free throw line, they finished the half converting four of nine.
With their leading scorer already on the bench in the second quarter due to foul trouble, more pressure was placed on Kayla Snyder to produce. She picked up her second foul on a drive to the bucket. At the break, the Hornets were on top 22-21, but things were tenuous for the team that once led by double digits.
Parkland came crashing through in the third quarter, outscoring Emmaus 16-9 and taking a seven point lead. Delaney Chilcote, who had eight points at half, threw down nine in the quarter. Sylvia Sokolofski gave Emmaus the lead back temporarily, scoring on a putback and reaching eight points on the game. A few early Parkland turnovers early did not result in Emmaus points, as Chilcote and McGalla chipped away.
Parkland went on an 8-3 run over the final four minutes of the third. Emmaus possessions came up dry and Delaney Chilcote knocked home a top of the key three to spark the run and her team. Olive Whitney temporarily stopped the bleeding with her second 3-pointer of the evening, but Emmaus would never retake the lead.
Down the stretch, Parkland righted the ship on free throw shooting, making 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter. On the other side, Emmaus went to the charity stripe just twice in the second half, a stark contrast to their attacking of the basket over the first two quarters.
Delaney Chilcote finished the night with 22 points, scoring 14 of those in the second half. Aneri McGalla scored 11 and Isabella Hallal added ten. In defeat, Kayla Snyder led the Hornets with ten points. Gabby DeVita, saddled with the three early fouls, finished the night with just eight.
Head coach Ed Ohlson talked about what was different this time around, “we did make some adjustments. We were much more aggressive tonight and I think that helped us quite a bit.”
“We rebounded better after the first quarter, I thought we did a really good job of making sure our matchups were good. That first quarter, we were getting transitioned out of the ballpark. That and the rebounding turned it around for us.”
“I had a great feeling. We’ve been practicing really well and I thought we were able to break down the things we were doing wrong–the title of the film after the last game was ‘Little Things’–this last week and a half we took the time to do the little things and it really helped us. “
“Part of that aggressiveness was be aggressive on offense, not just defense and try to force that foul situation.”
Coach Ohlson noted that he hasn’t mentioned what was last to graduation in Maddi Siggins or Talia Zurinskas all year, knowing that the team he has is different than previous seasons, “This team has its own identity, and I think tonight we might’ve found it.”
Notre Dame Green Pond 29, Executive Education 20
An early 7-5 Raptors lead evaporated, as the Crusaders won the middle quarters 17-5 to pull away for the win. A ferocious defensive effort by NDGP saw Executive score just twice from the field over the first 24 minutes of the contest. Free throws were plentiful all around; the Crusaders scored on 12 of their 27 opportunities, while Executive hit 12 of 20. Mariah Grove scored 15 of her team’s points. Brenna Hammerstone hit two triples in the first half on her way to leading the Crusaders with eight points. All seven of NDGP’s fourth quarter points came at the charity stripe. Josh Kopp’s team advances to face Schuylkill League champion Schuylkill Haven in the DXI 3A title game Friday night at Easton. Tip is set for 6:00.
Wednesday, 2/26
Central Catholic 51, Northwestern Lehigh 41(OT)(Broadcast)
With a showing of balanced scoring and poise against Tamaqua, head coach Kathy Davidowich was hoping for more of that Wednesday night at Northern Lehigh in the semifinals. She also knew that the Vikettes had a size advantage with Milly Wolf. Milly stepped up in a big way.
Central Catholic would have to contend with Colonial League MVP Cara Thomas and a very solid core of Tigers, including freshman Natalie Conner. Morgan Seagreaves and Thomas exchanged the first tow baskets of the game, setting a tone for the evening.
It was a speedy first quarter, with both teams sprinting up and down the court. At times, it leant itself to early turnovers and steals. Natalie Conner’s mid-range jumper put Northwestern Lehigh back on top, as part of her seven first quarter points. Milly Wolf countered with nine points on two triples and an old-fashioned three-point play. Central Catholic led 15-10 after one, but had turned the ball over six times.
Early on, it was apparent Northwestern Lehigh was not going to have their usual success from behind the 3-point line. The Tigers hit just one out of nine tries in the first half, uncharacteristic for a team that averages over five makes per game.
Both teams struggled for the first five minutes of the second quarter; Central Catholic went without a point until Morgan Seagreaves hit a jumper with 2:30 left, extending the Vikettes’ lead to 17-11. Shamiya Roberts stole it away from Paige Bissell and Milly Wolf’s floater went down, forcing a Northwestern timeout. The flurry of Central points continued with another Shamiya Roberts steal, getting it up to Skylar Taylor for the score. Seagreaves hit a pair of free throws and Annika Spinosa closed out the half with a buzzer-beating triple from the corner, her first points of the night. At half, Central led 26-13 and appeared to be running away with the ballgame.
Cara Thomas scored the first four of the third quarter, as the Vikettes went on another drought similar to that in the second quarter. Natalie Conner caught a pass in rhythm and knocked the next bucket down, bringing the score to 26-19. Thomas added pair of free throws to keep the 8-0 run going. The Vikettes scored once from the field in the quarter, as Milly Wolf hit a shot and went four of four from the charity stripe to provide at least some scoring for Central Catholic. Wolf’s bucket came with :30 left in the quarter. Cara Thomas scored eight of her team’s 15 points in the third, drawing to within 32-28 entering the final quarter.
Annika Spinosa took the lid off of the basket with her corner triple that opened the final quarter. The long ball moved the lead to 35-28. Natalie Conner answered with a putback and a trey of her own, as the freshman did all she could to will her team back. With four minutes to go, it remained a one possession game.
Down the stretch, the Vikettes slowed the game down, content to draw the foul and shoot free throws. Unfortunately for that strategy, Central Catholic was 2-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter, keeping the Tigers squarely alive. Off a missed layup following a free throw chance, the Tigers had a Conner chance for a triple, but it was in and out. Cara Thomas committed her fifth foul and sent Milly Wolf to the line. She needed both to secure the win, but only made one. Natalie Conner pulled up from well beyond the line and banged home a game-tying 3-pointer from straight on with six seconds left, tying the game at 41 and ultimately sending the game to overtime.
Once down 13 points, Northwestern Lehigh had battled all the way back. However, they were playing without their senior leader in Cara Thomas, who finished her night with 12 points. With the Vikettes ahead by four, Milly Wolf’s high-arcing rebound would not go down, but Seagreaves rebounded it, ensuring more free throws for her team. Spinosa missed both, but this time it was Aveline Bubnis with the rebound, frustrating the Tigers. With 1:20 left, Wolf made both of her free throws and pushed the lead to 47-41. A Tigers foul away from the ball gave Central yet another extra possession. From there, it was yet another offensive board off a Wolf free throw that iced the game. The Tigers went scoreless in the extra session.
Milly Wolf commented about her 24-point afternoon and the hard-fought victory , “We really wanted it today. There is definitely a rivalry. We wanted to control our effort and we had a great day.”
“[We] all hit bigtime shots. I think in the second half of the season, everyone’s stepping up and playing their role, and that’s where we’re having such success.
“We started off the season a little shaky, but I definitely knew that we’d be in this spot.”
Kathy Davidowich echoed those sentiments: “We kept on saying ‘crash the boards’ but we weren’t; in the third quarter, we made some silly turnovers. But, fourth quarter, I said ‘Look, it’s 0-0 now. Now you have to go for everything. Every loose ball, every rebound. You have to lay it on the line.’”
“Milly, we even said to her in the timeout ‘get ’em together. This is your team, here.’ And she did. She wants that gold. I’m so proud of her tonight.”
Palmerton 47, North Schuylkill 39(OT)
Prior to the Schuylkill League title game, North Schuylkill had no losses to any team from District XI. Palmerton gave them their second such loss in the district semifinals, out scoring the Spartans 11-3 in overtime. Hailey Barry was the hero that forced the extra session, baking in a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to tie it up. In the overtime period, the Blue Bombers made seven of their eight free throws to help secure the win. Meanwhile, the Spartans were 5-of-14 from the charity stripe on the night. Barry finished her evening with 13 points to lead Palmerton, while Mikayla Pengelly came away with 12 and Courtney Connell dropped in ten. With the win, Palmerton advances to Saturday’s title game in Easton against Central Catholic.
Friday, 2/28
Liberty 59, Emmaus 45(Broadcast, Photo Gallery)
In big moments with everything on the line, stars step up. Ava Kopetskie was every bit that star Friday night at Whitehall, scoring 29 points, hitting NBA-range 3-balls, and frustrating Emmaus to no end.
“Just keeping the team settled, that we weren’t in a rush. They play fast and they want us to play fast, so if we slow it down, that helps our game and helps us get back into our sets and get open shots.” That was Ava Kopetskie’s answer to how Liberty controlled the game. And she nailed it.
It was nip-and-tuck for the first half. Emmaus jumped out to a 10-4 lead on a couple of Sylvia Sokolofski shots, including a putback. Gabby DeVita scored early and Olive Whitney came off the bench for a triple, in typical fashion. Liberty turned the ball over four times in the early going, but Emmaus was not able to fully capitalize and build an even larger lead due mostly to a few missed layups. In one instance, Kayla Snyder hit a trey in transition, but was whistled for a travel. On the other end, the Hurricanes countered with their own 9-3 run to end the quarter, sparked by a Kopetskie long ball and four more points from Anijah Davis.
Despite the Liberty rally, it was looking up for Emmaus, as five different players scored in the opening eight minutes. However, Liberty was quickly able to neutralize both DeVita and Kayla Snyder. Normally combining for almost 30 points per game, this time they combined for 11. Anijah Davis gave Liberty its first lead of the night on her 3-pointer, providing 11 total points in the first half.
A typical pride point for the Green Hornets was also their ability to guard the 3-point shot. Most of the season, they have held teams well below their average in the category. However, Liberty stayed right where they normally do, hitting seven of 15 tries. Kopetskie threw down two of those in the second quarter from beyond NBA range and had 11 points by halftime, looking much more relaxed on the court than her last outing when she was hunting for her 1,000th. At the half, only three Hurricanes had scored, but they led 26-24. Both teams had ten turnovers.
The three-point success didn’t stop for Liberty, as Knedall Medina, Tula Sobrinski, and Kopetskie all hit. Meanwhile, Emmaus continued its offensive struggles that had held over from the Parkland game. Snyder hit a 3-ball, but it was only her first field goal of the night and it would be her only one. She was in foul trouble for most of the second half and fouled out in the fourth as Emmaus was trying to come back.
Despite the third quarer woes and offensive struggles for Emmaus, Liberty was only up three in the latter stage of the third quarter. However, Ava Koeptskie scored on a long two with her foot on the line. She blasted another long ball home to extend the lead to 44-38. A free throw from Emma Miller made it 45-38 after three quarters.
A Sylvia Sokolofski fourth quarter triple would be the last meaningful field goal for Emmaus as they tried to claw back, cutting their deficit to six. Emmaus got the ball back after an over and back, but Emma Nacarrato missed a layup. Gabby DeVita was then whistled for a travel on Emmaus’ next possession. Anijah Davis put a nail in the coffin, finishing off a possession in which the Hurricanes got two offensive rebounds.
Most of the season, Emmaus had played in a steady rhythm, with all parts knowing their role. Those roles were shaken up for much of this game, as Sokolofski ended up being the leading scorer with 11 points. Sierra Stevens was called upon late in the game and scored four points in the fourth. Liberty closed out the game in style, as Ava Kopetskie put a last second shot in to finish the night with 29 points.
With the win, Liberty avenged a third-place game loss last year to the same Emmaus team. Emmaus, falling to 25-3, misses the state playoffs and will have the best record in the state that does not go to states.
Ava Kopetskie was quick to credit her teammates in the postgame, “Anijah did amazing, she helped us so much in the first half. Her defense is always amazing.”
She knew the key to victory was to get Emmaus frustrated: “Using their aggressiveness against them by using ball fakes and getting it to the open player.”
Coach Carnes talked about the keys to victory after losing to this same Emmaus team earlier in the season: “We were able to play four quarters of tough basketball. We took care of the ball when we needed to and we were able to handle their pressure. We limited their transition points and 3-pointers.”
“I just expressed to them that we need to stay together. The season’s not over, yeah we wanted to play for gold, but we’re still alive. We win this game and the season extends for another week. How much are you willing to give in; whatever you put into it, you’re going to get out of it. They responded tonight.”
He also knew that last year’s loss to Emmaus in this same third-place game was a motivating factor all year long, “The girls expressed that they wanted to play Emmaus all season after we lost to them.”
“The energy [the seniors] bring, the leadership…they’re relentless. They do it all. We go as far as their energy and relentlessness.”
“I hope so. I go home and I’m tired with a headache. I have a lost voice because so I’m screaming so much, but I hope it trickles down to them.” coach Carnes talked about his own game-time energy and being an animated head coach on the sidelines.
Parkland 54, Easton 28(Photo Gallery)
Parkland came out with can’t-miss shooting in their dominant performance over the Red Rovers at Whitehall, claiming the District XI 6A championship. Balanced scoring and 3-point marksmanship allowed the Trojans to pull away early.
Early on it looked like Easton would keep shooting with them. Natalie Amato drained a triple from the top of the key, putting the Rovers up 7-4 early. Easton held that lead most of the first quarter. Sarah Car finished on the other end off a steal, pulling Parkland within 7-6. Car laid it in with :06 left to tie things up at 11 after one. In a sign of what was to come, Delaney Chilcote hit a triple in the first quarter.
Entering the second, Parkland exploded for a highlight reel of three-point shooting. Off a miss inside, the ball was kicked out to Aneri McGalla, who drained the first of five Trojans long balls in the quarter. With 5:54 to go, Sarah Car was next up, knocking one down from the right wing. A 19-6 run over the quarter saw Addi Fritzinger hit one and Chilcote drop in two more from long range. Gabby Wismer did counter with one of her own, but at 30-17, it felt already like too little too late.
Easton played clean basketball, but the Parkland defense had studied up on their plan and knew exactly how Easton wanted to play.
“We really worked on stopping what we call their chin play. We just really pounded it. This is where we’re going to switch, this is where we’re not and really emphasize communication. They still hit some shots, but we never let that get away from us.” Aneri McGalla offered her insights on how Parkland was able to shut down the Easton offense for most of the evening.
The third quarter was no different. Spurred on by long shots from Fritzinger and McGalla, while allowing just one Red Rovers field goal in the period, Parkland was ahead 41-23. The final score was indicative of a total team effort and the shooting percentages were through the roof. Parkland shot 9-for-11 from beyond the arc, showing that shot selection was also clearly a focus. The Lady Trojans shot 68% from the field.
“We were just on fire. Something was happening tonight. There was just a feel in the locker room,” added McGalla.
McGalla also talked about the team effort, especially that of Sarah Car, who had eight points, “It’s incredible. I’m so proud of Sarah. Her progression from freshman year to now is incredible. I told her ‘I want you to shoot that ball’ and she went out there and she did that. I’m so proud of her.”
Delaney Chilcote, who had 15 points talked about the keys to victory: “One thing that was really important was shooting with confidence and I think we did that. Yesterday in practice, we worked on catching and shooting, because we knew it would be most of our shots this game and I think towards the end of the season, everything was down to our mindset and mentality more than physical. I think we killed that part in this game.”
“Everybody shot well because we moved the ball well. We told everybody to pull the trigger. We worked on defense a lot–how to guard all of their sets, because they’re really hard sets to guard. Something really important was not allowing second chance opportunities and I think we did a really good job in boxing out, just the little things.”
Notre Dame Green Pond 32, Schuylkill Haven 28
The Crusaders overcame a six point halftime deficit with a strong defensive effort to win the District 11 championship game at Easton Area Middle School. The Lady Crusaders created nine turnovers in the third quarter, holding the Hurricane to five points. They then came roaring back in the fourth, outscoring the Hurricanes 17-6, led by Ava Shonk’s 12 points. Emily Lessig chipped in with 10.
Saturday, 3/1
Notre Dame East Stroudsburg 44, Bethlehem Christian 41
It was the Olivia Protheroe show on full display at Easton Area Middle School Saturday afternoon. From start to finish, #33 was on fire on both ends. However, she was not alone as the Spartans had to bear down late to survive a solid rally by the Panthers to win their first ever district championship.
The early part of the title tilt belonged solely to Notre Dame. Protheroe scored the first five of the contest, including firing off a 3-pointer from up top. An early 9-2 lead looked like it would be quite a hill to climb, as Bethlehem Christian struggled to hold on to the ball with ten turnovers.
However, the Panthers found their footing in the second quarter. Liah Cornelius motored into the lane and got her shot to go. The Spartans quickly countered. Protheroe pulled up from the left wing and slammed down another triple, moving the lead to 17-8. But the Panthers would finish the quarter on a 12-2 run.
Along with a Giana Kasper trey, Bethlehem Christian took advantage of Spartans turnovers. Abby Wilson stole the ball in the backcourt and fired down to Kasper streaking into the lane. She quickly bounce passed it over to Aubrey Merisca who laid it up and in, cutting the deficit to 19-15. Abby Wilson drained another long ball from the left side to narrow Notre Dame’s lead to one. At the half, Bethlehem Christian had a one point lead, despite coughing up the basketball 19 times.
Protheroe scored twice to begin the third quarter, putting her team back in front 23-20. She went on to score twice more in the quarter, upping her game total to 20. With a 30-25 Spartans lead, the Panthers went to work.
Bethlehem Christian scored the next 13 points of the game. Elyse Kackadourian hit on a layup, followed by an Abby Wilson 3-ball. After three, the Panthers were back on top 33-30 and Kasper’s right corner three made it 36-30 one minute into the fourth.
With 6:46 to play, Notre Dame trailed by eight and they would score the next eight to tie things back up with 3:29 left. Thandi Ramone scored on a layup off of a turnover in the backcourt and Assegid’s trey brought the Panthers back.
Coming up the court with under a minute left, trailing 41-40, Notre Dame needed a big shot. Assegid provided it, shooting from well beyond the three-point line. After a miss, the Panthers had to give four fouls to get the ball back and put Notre Dame on the free throw line. The Panthers could not get the tying shot off, only getting the last 8.5 seconds of the game to play with.
Protheroe finished the day with 23 points and Assegid contributed 11 more. In the losing effort, the Panthers had three reach double figures: Abby Wilson(11), Liah Cornelius(10) and Giana Kasper(11).
Both teams will advance to the state tournament next Saturday. Notre Dame opens against Upper Bucks Christian, while Bethlehem Christian will travle to Philadelphia to play Motivation.
Protheroe talked about the victory: “We just had to go in with confidence and we didn’t have any crazy mistakes. No matter how tired we were, we just had to push through it.”
“We just didn’t let that bother us–we knew we were still in the game no matter what.”
It’s really nice, we just had to have our head in the game, but it’s really nice that we all won.”
“To get to the championship, we just had to play no matter what the score was. [Blain] sealed the game for us.” We just had to have confidence, we knew we were the better team.
Blain Assegid talked about her fourth quarter 3-pointer that helped end a 13-0 Bethlehem Christian run: “I think it really brought our confidence back up and we knew if we had confidence, we would have the game.”
“It feels really good, we never would’ve thought we’d make it this far; I’m so proud of this team.”
“[Coach] told us the game isn’t over until its over, so we just kept playing our game and never lost faith in ourselves. This game, we truly did not give up until the last buzzer, so us just playing through it was key.”
Central Catholic 45, Palmerton 33(Photo Gallery)
The Vikettes overcame a long scoring drought and held Palnerton in check down the stretch to win their third consecutive District XI title.
Central Catholic started out hot, and it was quickly evident it would be a balanced scoring attack when freshman Skylar Taylor broke into the lane down low for a layup. Shamiya Roberts followed the Vikettes scoring with a top of the key three pointer. Annika Spinosa’s right-wing trey put Central up 11-5. Her steal and layup at the buzzer ended the quarter with an 18-11 Central Catholic lead.
Palmerton’s defense was much sharper in the second and the scoring drought for the Vikettes began, much like at times versus Northwestern Lehigh and Tamaqua. A Morgan Seagreaves three-point play gave the only points of the quarter for the Vikettes, while Palmerton also struggled and missed some makeable shots inside. Cate Morgan scored five points in the quarter and Palmerton had a chance to tie at the halftime buzzer, but fumbled the ball at midcourt. At the break, Central Catholic’s lead was a slim one, 21-18.
After Taylor gave her team a 23-18 lead to open the third quarter, Palmerton quickly fired back with long shots from Cate Morgan and Hailey Barry. Unfortunately for Palmerton, that would be Barry’s only made shot from the field, as head coach Kathy Davidowich’s team was able to neutralize her otherwise. The team exchanged blows and came out even in the third, 11-11. Central still led the game by three points.
Milly Wolf came up big in the fourth quarter, hitting a deep corner trey from the left side with 5:00 to play. The Vikettes closed the game on a 12-3 run and did not allow a Blue Bombers field goal in the final stanza.
Milly spoke about the game: “I think that’s really helped us is the balanced scoring. We really wanted to get the three-peat and it felt great.”
“Coming out strong helped us; usually we don’t come out as strong, so coming out strong–we had the momentum and it carried us through the game.”
“We didn’t really play our game in the second quarter. We just had to come out and play our game, hsutle on defense and really just take some more shots.”
On the day, Morgan Seagreaves led the Vikettes with 14 points. Wolf added 10 and Annika Spinosa finished with 11. Courtney Connell had a 15 point output for Palmerton in defeat.
Head coach Kathy Davidowich talked about the victory, Central Catholic’s third consecutive DXI 4A title: “That was a grind. I knew Palmerton doesn’t give up very easily. They play very good defense, and they got us a little bit of our rhythm. At halftime, a lot of the girls said they were trying not to make mistakes instead of just playing the game.”
She talked about the quick start from starters with increased roles, including Shamiya Roberts: “That was a great start. Shamiya is one of those that all season struggled to shoot, but we keep saying ‘shoot, shoot’. [She] works so hard, she’s at the gym all the time. She even said she went to the Y today to shoot before the game, and that’s all we say; it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to keep shooting or it doesn’t happen.”
“I’m excited. I’m so happy for them. I don’t think people actually thought with what we graduated, that we could be here and win this championship and I’m just so happy for the girls.”
Bethlehem Catholic 61, Bangor 16
The Golden Hawks’ victory was never in doubt Saturday afternoon in Easton. From wire to wire, Bethlehem Catholic pressed the Slaters into a plethora of turnovers and used their size to dominate on the boards.
Bethlehem Catholic started hot, as DJ Jones knocked down a long shot and Aliyah Brame hit. Tess Tryanski put away two 3-balls, lifting the Hawks to an early 15-2 lead. Defensively, Bangor had no answer for the full court press, turning the ball over eight times in the opening eight minutes. The Hawks shot 9-of-15 in the quarter and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. After just eight minutes, it was already 31-5.
Palin Coleman, the Hawks’ stud freshman, hit from range twice in the first half on her way to a 13 point effort. She would end up leading her team in scoring, as ten different Hawks found the scoring column. The only bright spot for Bangor in this one was that they were 12-for-17 at the charity stripe. However, they were only able to score three times form the field and trailed 48-5 at the half.
The title victory marked Bethlehem Catholic’s ninth in a row. Both teams advance to states next Saturday afternoon and both will be hosting first round games.
LSV Sports 
Leave a comment