Girls District Semifinal Previews

Class A

• Salem Christian v Bethlehem Christian(Wednesday, 7:30 at Northampton) – The Panthers of Bethlehem Christian met Salem Christian twice in the regular season, winning 40-30 and 31-20. In the first meeting, Zoey Morea scored 11 points and Aubrey Merisca pulled down ten offensive boards. Paige Kreidler scored ten in the second matchup, where the Panthers used a 19-9 second half to pull away.
• Notre Dame East Stroudsburg v Weatherly(Wednesday, 6:00 at Pleasant Valley) – These two did not meet in the regular season. Olivia Protheroe leads NDES and is coming off a 42 point performance against East Stroudsburg North. Kelly Reiner leads Weatherly, averaging nearly 10 points per game.

Class AA

• Williams Valley v Shenandoah Valley(Tuesday, 5:00 at Martz Hall) – The last meeting between these two Schuylkill League foes was one of the shockers of the entire regular season. Shenandoah Valley snapped a Vikings nine game win streak and prevented Mallory Miller from reaching her 1,000-point milestone. It was even more surprising given Williams Valley had defeated Shenandoah by 27 back in December. Jocelyn Shagolla and Gianna Donovan will need to be on their A-game one more time to upend the top seed in 2A. In Williams Valley’s 49-22 win on December 9th, Miller scored 18, while Ireland Kasper had 14 and Ella Kobularik added ten.
• Marian Catholic v Lincoln Leadership(Tuesday, 6:00 at Blue Mountain) – This is a rematch of a game that took place just last week. The Fillies upended Lincoln 52-35 behind 19 points from DeAnna Pugh and 15 more from sophomore standout Addy Marek. Freshman Haley Minzola contributed ten. The Fillies will be significant favorites in the second meeting. Arielle Taylor leads the Lions, averaging nine points per game.

Class AAA

• Schuylkill Haven v Pine Grove(Tuesday, 6:30 at Martz Hall) – The champions of the Schuylkill League will not face Catasauqua, but rather a more familiar foe in Pine Grove. Wins of 49-30 and 50-36 against the Cardinals surely give the Hurricanes confidence headed to a third meeting. McKenna Runkle averages 15.5ppg and senior Audrey Hutchinson brings 13ppg to the table. Those two combined for 37 points in the February 2nd matchup. A younger Cardinals squad is led by sophomores Hollynn Sampson(12ppg) and Lainey Fidler(7.3ppg). Medaow Umbenhaur, a junior, should also factor in for Pine Grove, averaging eight points per game.
• Executive Education v Notre Dame GP(Tuesday, 6:00 at Catasauqua) – The Crusaders defeated the Raptors 29-20 a year ago in a defensive battle, to say the least. Mariah Hargrove had 15 of Executive’s 20 and she will be called upon again, as Ashley Hunter-Ali and Kendall Medina are unavailable. NDGP is loaded with weapons and the Colonial League title free throw troubles feel like a distant memory after the Crusaders powered by Northern Lehigh. The Crusaders share the ball well and any number of players could be the one to step up in what will probably be another low-scoring affair. Ava Shonk, Ava Hobbie, Brenna Hammerstone, Ella Schweitzer, Riley Boyle–all of them will be factors.

Class AAAA

• Central Catholic v Palmerton(Wednesday, 7:30 at Pleasant Valley) – The Vikettes and Blue Bombers meet for the second straight year. For Kathy Davidowich’s squad, it’s been a season full of growing pains followed by the growth, as the squad is fresh off a 14-point comeback against #2 seed Northwestern Lehigh. Having found that next gear and more of their potential, ACC now looks to keep it going. The top two scorers from their game last year remain in Morgan Seagreaves(13) and Annika Spinosa(12). This year, Shamiya Roberts has taken steps forward and Skylar Taylor is also trending up. Alyssa Hursh was the most recent hero, sinking three triples against the Tigers late. Palmerton has rebounded nicely after the loss of Courtney Connell. She was last year’s leading scorer with 15 against Central. The Bombers will need to overcome some inconsistent shooting, but Cate Morgan, Hailey Barry, Ali Green and more will push Central. The winner of this game needs to play to their full potential and not have any kind of letdown.
• Blue Mountain v North Schuylkill(Wednesday, 6:00 at Martz Hall) – Certainly not the matchup many had in their bracket, but Blue Mountain has rocketed from a pigtail victory over Saucon Valley to upending top-seeded Lehighton by a significant margin. They now meet fellow Schuylkill League rival North Schuylkill for the third time. The first meeting saw the Spartans win 49-34 behind 17 points from sophomore Monica Selgrade and 11 from junior Gianna Capone. Senior Mya Conti has been huge for North. She scored seven in the first meeting and ten in the rematch. Callie Peel was huge for the Eagles in the second game that Blue Mountain won 46-41. She went off for 19. Hailey Place added eight in the game. Both will need to come up big again to keep the momentum going.

Class AAAAA,

• Bethlehem Catholic v Bangor(Wednesday, 7:30 at Executive Education) – On paper, this one is a similar mismatch to last year’s 61-16 rout, created by DXI 5A having only seven teams in it. The top two will go to states and host first round games. The Slaters’ eight victories all come against teams with losing records. Kaylynn Figurski and others will need to have huge games to keep up with the likes of Leah Ault, Aliyah Brame, Kam Gallis, Ayva Radande, and Kendall Nickischer. Bethlehem Catholic’s goal here is to keep their eyes on the prize of a state playoff run and not allow Bangor to hang around in this one.
• Southern Lehigh v Pottsville(Wednesday, 6:00 at Executive Education) – it has been eight years since the Spartans and Crimson Tide last met. Back then, Southern Lehigh was making deep state playoff runs and mowing down local competition. Now, Southern Lehigh continues to rebuild and is looking to take next steps in a not so crowded 5A field. The Spartans are looking to get Sam Fontanzes and Elena Marques scoring big numbers to overcome Pottsville’s trio of standout juniors in Jo Barnhart, Myla Fegley and Lauren Brennan.

Class AAAAAA

• Emmaus v Parkland(Tuesday, 6:00 at Whitehall) – why would it be any other way? These two bitter foes renew their rivalry one more time at Whitehall Tuesday night. In the first meeting, Emmaus had a slow start but outscored the Trojans 30-18 over the middle quarters for the victory. Despite only one triple in that game, the Hornets got 31 combined points from Gabby DeVita and Gracie Ervin. This game also saw Cherryllana Cunningham go scoreless, which would not be the case in the rematch. Aneri McGalla and Isabella Hallal were big stories in Parkland’s 58-51 revenge. McGalla scored seven of Parkland’s 16 fourth quarter points to upend Emmaus 16-6 in the final eight minutes and win 58-51. Hallal finished with 16. Emmaus got the 3-point shooting it was used to in this one, but DeVita was held scoreless in the fourth. The rubber match will come down to whether or not the defenses can shut down a key player on the other end. Will Cunningham or McGalla or Hallal go off? Will Olive Whitney hit four or five triples? Will DeVita score 20 or more? Or will one of these stars be held down allowing the other side to get by? This will be a very intriguing semifinal.
• Easton v Nazareth(Tuesday, 7:30 at Whitehall) – And in another rematch of familiar foes, the Red Rovers and Blue Eagles will also meet for a third time. Easton got the best of Nazareth 43-25 before Christmas, zipping out to a 17-2 lead and also winning the third quarter 10-2. The Cole sisters only combined for eight points in this one, led instead by 20 combined from Gabby Wismer and Nat Amato. Nazareth never got Karly Lesczynski going. The second meeting in late January was much closer, as the Rovers escaped 53-48. Easton showed again why they are so lethal for opponents–every game someone different has a big game. This time, it was 17 from Amato and 12 from Brunetti to go with ten more from Wismer. This time, Leszcynski and Davis combined for 32. Easton is also coming off the heart-stopping thriller at the PPL Center and the heroics of freshman Eva Jordan. Nazareth will need a big effort to join those of Leszcynski and Davis. Maddie Ott, Carly Brown, Sarah Deily, and others are more than capable. Easton needs to continue to do what it does and share the ball and the glory–the results have been fantastic so far.