ILVGH: State Playoff Previews

Friday, 3/7

Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter(8-2) v Notre Dame Green Pond(23-5), 6:00 at Rockne Hall

Players to Watch

MBAC – #15 Justice Stanton, 12ppg; #13 Siana Alicea, 10ppg; #2 Bella Rodriguez, 9ppg

NDGP – Emily Lessig, 11ppg; Ava Shonk, 7.4ppg; Brenna Hammerstone, 6.6ppg

MBA Charter, a Philadelphia charter school founded in 1999 serving primarily the Kensington area, enters the state playoffs for the first time with an 8-2 record. The team has not played since their February 3rd 63-45 loss to Paul Robeson. The month off from game action will certainly be a factor to watch for as they make the trip to Rockne Hall Friday night. As for Josh Kopp’s Notre Dame Green Pond, the Crusaders have won seven in a row, claiming both a Colonial League and District XI 3A title. Most recently, the team came back in the fourth quarter to get by Schuylkill League champions Schuylkill Haven for a 32-28 win.

Bodine(9-7) v Schuylkill Haven(22-6), 7:30 at Martz Hall

Players to Watch

Bodine – #5 Hanifah El-Martini, 10ppg; #21 Kaylin Manley, 5ppg; #2 Alina Smith, 5ppg

Haven – #21 McKenna Runkle, 11.2ppg; #2 Audrey Hutchinson, 7.5ppg; #33 Alea Porter, 7.5ppg; #4 Anna Schaeffer, 7.3ppg, #3 Kylie Siket, 6.8ppg

The William W. Bodine School of International Affairs Ambassadors come into the 3A state playoffs having lost four of their last six games, following a six game winning streak. The Ambassadors last made the state playoffs in 2016, falling to York Catholic 53-42. Coming into this game, Bodine has just two wins over teams with winning reocrds in Simon-Gratz and Penn Treaty. They have had some close, low-scoring contests, including a 33-26 defeat to 6A playoff bound Academy at Palumbo and a 25-24 loss to Kensington. Similar to Mariana Bracetti above, Bodine has had a long layoff since their last game action, a 46-22 loss to Central Philadelphia back on February 11th. Schuylkill Haven has won seven of its last eight games, including handing North Schuylkill their only loss of the conference season in the title game at Martz Hall. The familiarity of playing in The Mecca will surely benefit the Hurricanes. Haven had Notre Dame Green Pond on the ropes going into the fourth quarter of their district title game, but turned the ball over several times in the final eight minutes. Bodine will look to exploit extra possessions to overcome their 14 points per game less output than that of Haven.

Downingtown West(24-5) @ Parkland(19-8), 7:00

Players to Watch

DTW – #4 Hayden Blair, 8.5ppg and 38 3’s; #11 Liv Young, 4.6ppg; #42 Kylee Domsohn(Fr), 6.5ppg

Park – Aneri McGalla, 10ppg; Delaney Chilcote, 11.8ppg; Isabella Hallal, 7.7ppg

The Parkland Lady Trojans successfully defended their Distrixt XI 6A title by rolling over Easton 54-28. In that game, they knocked down nine 3-pointers and Delaney Chilcote had four of them. Without Talia Zurinskas and Maddi Siggins, two 1,000-point scorers, many wondered how Parkland would respond. Head coach Ed Ohlson has gotten the most out of his girls once again, as they beat a 25-2(at the time) Emmaus squad in the semifinals and then defended their title. On the opposing side are the Dowingtown West Whippets, champions of the Ches-Mont league, having defeated rival Downingtown East 41-40. In districts, after a bye week, the Whippets lost to Haverford before winning three consecutive playback games to make the state bracket. DTW has not won a state playoff game since defeating Cumberland Valley in 2012. The Whippets have a few very notable family ties to the sport. Senior Caitlin Grant’s aunt is Denise Dillon, the women’s head coach at Villanova. Hayden Blair’s father is the men’s coach at West Chester University. On the court, both teams matchup well, scoring 46 points per game Parkland will be looking to make a similar run to last year, when they made the state semifinals.

Liberty(18-8) v Academy at Palumbo(13-7), 6:30 at Benjamin Franklin HS

Players to Watch

Liberty – Ava Kopetskie, 20ppg; Anijah Davis, 9.9ppg; Kendall Medina, 7.5ppg; Tula Sobrinski, 7ppg

Palumbo – #10 Aisha Muibi, 16.8ppg; #20 Beatrix Kaeli, 8.2ppg; #42 Naimah Harggrove, 5.9ppg

The Palumbo Griffins made states just a year ago, falling to Scranton 55-20. This time, they will look to topple the District XI third place finishers in Liberty. Palumbo is coming off of losses to two of the top teams in Philadelphia, 62-18 to Imhotep Charter and 54-25 to Archbishop Carroll. The Griffins will need to overcome 35% free throw shooting and 14% 3-point shooting. Liberty ended the season of a 25-3 Emmaus program, earning District XI’s last spot in the state playoffs. In that game, Ava Kopetskie scored 29 points and the Hurricanes sank seven triples. Kopetskie is joined by freshman standout Kendall Medina, three-point shooter Tula Sobrinski, and other talents such as Shawna Beatty. While the numbers on paper look better for Liberty, the two teams are only separated by an average of eight points scored per game.

Haverford(21-5) @ Easton(20-6), 7:30

Players to Watch

Haverford – #25 Rian Dotsey, 16.2ppg; #22 Natalie Wright, 8.5ppg; #4 Mya Foley, 7ppg

Easton – Kourin Carew, 12.5ppg; Nat Amato, 10.1ppg; Elene Brunetti, 6.7ppg; Gabby Wismer, 5.3ppg

The Haverford Fords won four of their five games played in the District 1 tournament. falling only to champions Garnet Valley by a score of 54-44. Powerful wins came against #6 seed Cheltenham and #7 seed Downingtown West. The Fords also defeated 5A state playoff qualifier Strath Haven, 49-28. Easton has had a rough ride to the end, losing its shooting touch at times in a 30-20 win over Dieruff or in a 54-28 loss to Parkland in the District XI title game. However, their defensive prowess is always superb, having led them in a ten game winning streak. During that run, the Red Rovers defeated Parkland, Liberty, and Bethlehem Catholic. This promises to be an excellent first round contest.

Saturday, 3/8

Bethlehem Christian(15-7) v Motivation(6-8), 2:00 at West Philadelphia High School

Players to Watch

Bethlehem Christian – Giana Kasper, 13ppg; Abby Wilson, 10.7ppg; Liah Cornelius, 4.1ppg

Motivation – #3 Joyce Cassell, 14.8ppg; #12 Taylor Matheny, 13ppg; #2 Joy Cassell, 8ppg

Like many others in District 12, the Motivation Jaguars have played a shorter season than their DXI opponents. The Jaguars last faced George Washington on February 12th, in a 54-51 loss. The long layoff may prove an advantage over the long grind faced by the Panthers of Bethlehem Christian. After defeating Notre Dame East Stroudsburg twice in the regular season, they lost a furious comeback attempt in the DXI title game, 44-41. The Panthers struggled with turnovers in that contest, despite a late 13-0 run. Motivation’s last clash with District XI in the state playoffs came in 2020, just prior to pandemic shutdowns, when North Schuylkill bested them 73-23. The year prior, Notre Dame Green Pond defeated the Jaguars 64-25. The Panthers are making their first ever state playoff appearance.

Northwestern Lehigh(24-4) v Neumann-Goretti(21-4), 2:30 at Benjamin Franklin HS

Players to Watch

NW Lehigh – Cara Thomas, 20ppg; Natalie Conner(Fr) 16.2ppg; Brook Balliet, 6.4ppg

N-G – #1 Carryn Easley, 14.6ppg; #22 Reginna Baker, 14.3ppg; #24 Kamora Berry, 14.2ppg; #0 Amya Scott, 12.4ppg

With boys soccer, girls soccer, and football all conquered by Northwestern Lehigh, the girls look to see how far they can go in the state playoffs for basketball. The Tigers fell in the Colonial League title game to Notre Dame Green Pond 58-53 and then 51-41 in overtime to Central Catholic in the DXI semifinals, but rebounded with a big win over North Schuylkill to get into states. Led by league MVP Cara Thomas and star freshman Natalie Conner, Northwestern will look to topple one of Philadelphia’s best teams. The Saints of Neumann-Goretti boast four stars who average double figures. The team averages 66 points per game and boast victories over Cardinal O’Hara, Cardinal Mooney(OH), and Archbishop Carroll. Despite losing their last game to Audenreid, 77-66, Carryn Easley still put up 26 points.

Valley View(20-5) @ Palmerton(21-6), 1:00

Players to Watch

View – Cora Castellani, 12.6ppg and 40 3’s; Giada Costa, 12.2ppg; Ava Gazoo, 9.2ppg

Palm – Hailey Barry, Courtney Connell, Mikayla Pengelly

Valley View is looking to improve on last year’s postseason, in which they won their first round state playoff against Jersey Shore and then fell to Audenreid. Much like last year, the Cougars lost to Scranton Prep in Mohegan Sun Arena, but did play them tough, coming back within 34-26 before the Classics went on a 28-10 run to end the game. Three of the team’s five losses come at the hands of Prep. They will meet the Palmerton Blue Bombers, who last won a state playoff game in 2022 over Martin Luther King. Courtney Connell and Cate Morgan combined for 25 points in the team’s 45-33 DXI title game loss to Central Catholic.

Jersey Shore(17-8) @ Central Catholoc(15-10), 1:00

Players to Watch

Shore – #1 Peyton Dincher, 21.6ppg, 59 3’s; #12 Cailtn Schall, 10.3ppg; #2 Sophia Stover, 5.8ppg

CC – Milly Wolf, 13.6ppg; Morgan Seagreaves, 9.8ppg; Annika Spinosa 5.4ppg

The Vikettes of Central Catholic made another District title run, their third in a row, surprising some in the Lehigh Valley. With the loss of Molly Driscoll to graduation, this group had to find itself and also find balanced scoring as the season progressed. Head coach Kathy Davidowich would agree that her young team is finding their roles and really starting to play within themselves down the stretch. Having won six of their last seven and getting good contributions from Annika Spinosa and Shamiya Roberts, along with stalwart leaders like Wolf and Seagreaves, the Vikettes are ready for another state tournament run. They will open up against District 4 runners-up Jersey Shore. Peyton Dincher is a 3-pont marksman for the Bulldogs, averaging over 20 points per game. The Bulldogs will look to improve on last year, in which they fell to Valley View in the first round of states. Their last win in states came two years ago against Wyoming Area.

Strath Haven(13-13) @ Bangor(13-12), 1:00

Players to Watch

Haven – #12 Maddie Fanning(Fr), 14ppg; #11 Olivia Voshell, 10ppg; #3 Maryella Gill, 6ppg

Bangor – Avery Nelson, 18.2ppg; Kaylynn Figurski, 6.2ppg; Aubrie LaBar, 6.6ppg

Bangor qualifies for the state playoffs having lost six of its last eight games, including a 62-16 drubbing at the hands of DXI 5A champion Bethlehem Catholic. In that game, Avery Nelson was held to single digits for just the second time all year. Strath Haven has also had an up-and-down year, but the team made their way through District 1 playbacks to finish in 5th place, defeating West Chester Rustin 38-28. Kenzie and Maddie Fanning, both freshman, join three senior starters in the lineup. Bangor benefits from having home court, but will need to find their offense quickly to keep up with Strath Haven. Getting Avery Nelson going early will be a huge key to success for the Slaters. As for the Panthers, steady production from their starters is what could guide them to a first round win.