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Girls’ Basketball: Five Alive in the State Race, As Carroll, Wood, O’Hara, Prendie & Neumann-Goretti Vie for a Semifinal Spot

By John Knebels - Angelise Stuhl Photos: Kathy Leister, 03/14/19, 5:00PM EDT

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By: John Knebels & Angelise Stuhl

Photos: Kathy Leister & Zamani Feelings

 

PIAA PCL Round-Up: Two wins down, three to go. 

This weekend, the following Catholic League teams have reached the PIAA quarterfinals and remain alive for a title. 

Class 6A – Cardinal O’Hara (15-11 overall record; District 12, Seed 1) watched an 18-point lead dwindle to one but hung on to defeat Spring-Ford (22-5; 1-4), March 12, at Harriton. Sophomore Amaris Baker scored 19 points and seized eight boards while freshman Sydni Scott tallied 11 points.

Up Next: Neshaminy (14-4, 1-2), March 15, at Norristown High School, 6:00.

Lion Chat: “It was a great win for our team. We are excited and happy that we can advance into being one of the final eight teams in the state. We are looking forward to playing Neshaminy. We wanted to play them. Earlier in the year we lost against them, but we have progressed throughout the season and we are ready to shock them,” said Amaris Baker 

O'Hara vs. Spring Ford - Photos by Kathy Leister: 

*To see & purchase additional pics click here*

O'Hara vs. Spring Ford Game Highlights by Kathy Leister:

Class 5A – Archbishop Carroll (23-5) defeated a talented freshmen heavy Gettysburg (23-7) squad 42-31 to advance to the PIAA 5A quarterfinals. Senior guard Harlem Jennings and junior guard Erin Sweeney led the Patriots with 16 points apiece. Jennings accounted for seven of Carroll’s 11 second quarter points, while Sweeney scored nine of her team’s 13 fourth quarter points to seal the victory. 

Worth Noting: Late in the fourth quarter, Sweeney unknowingly notched her 1,000th career point off a free-throw. Freshman guard Grace O’Neill stole a passed ball from Gettysburg junior Taylor Richardson, passed it to Jennings, who then lofted a pass to sophomore Karli Dougherty, who got it in the hands of Sweeney, who was then fouled. The dramatic play and career milestone can be seen at minute 1:08 in the below highlight video! Sweeney also went perfect from the line, sinking 10 foul shots during the game. The junior was adorned with balloons, flowers and a cookie cake post game. 

Patriot Chat: “Honestly, we don’t really care who we play at this point, just win and advance, win and advance. At this point whoever we play, we have to win. That’s our mindset right now,” said Jennings. 

Up Next: See below…

Carroll junior Erin Sweeney was humble thanking coaches & teammates that have helped her reach her milestone:

Archbishop Carroll vs. Gettysburg game highlights including Erin Sweeney's 1,000th point:

Carroll senior Harlem Jennings talks about her team's three goals & how they were executed:

Class 5A – Despite a slow first quarter, Archbishop Wood (17-11)cruised to a 50-24 victory against the Mechanicsburg Wildcats, who came into the game with an impressive 21-6 record. Sophomore guard Kaitlyn Orihel led the Vikings with 12 points. She was the lone scorer in the first quarter, tallying five points for Wood. Junior Lindsay Tretter had a big second quarter, nailing three treys to give her team an added 24-15 cushion heading into halftime. Tretter ended the game with 11 points for the Vikings. 

Viking Chat: “I liked how everyone worked together as a team (vs. Mechanicsburg). We all found the open person, made the extra pass when it was needed, attacked hard and we rebounded the ball really well at the end too,” said Tretter. As for her team’s preparation vs. a familiar PCL foe…“This time we are going to try and play better defense against them (Carroll) and we will go over a lot of things in practice tomorrow and Friday.” 

Up Next: Archbishop Wood and Archbishop Carroll will play on Saturday, March 16 in the PIAA 5A quarterfinal at Cardinal O’Hara High School at 1 p.m. These two powerful squads met recently on Feb. 25 in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship, which Archbishop Carroll won 48-42 in overtime. This match-up is surely not one to miss. (Insert your favorite nervous/excited GIF here!)

Lindsay Tretter says her team stuck with their game plan which attributed to their victory:

Archbishop Wood vs. Mechanicsburg Game Highlights:

Class 4A – As they did in the first round,Bonner-Prendergast (18-9; 12-1) outscored its opponent, Lake-Lehamn (20-7; 2-2), in every quarter and snared a 54-34 victory. Senior Maeve McCann (12 points), sophomore Alexis Eagan (10), freshman Bridie McCann (10), junior Alexis Gleason (9), junior Dakota McCaughan (8), and senior Ariana McGeary (5) paced a balanced scoring attack. 

Up Next: Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt (23-4; 3-2), March 16, at Reading’s Geigle Complex, 1:00. 

Panda Chat: “It was a great win for us. Everyone showed up to play. We didn’t let the height of the other team let us play down to the game we play. We are now preparing for a next game on Saturday against a great team that we have to work extra hard to prepare for. We are going to keep our heads up and wanna keep winning.” –Maeve McCann  

Class 4A – This past Wednesday evening, the journey to the state final came to an unfortunate end for Lansdale Catholic (16-11). The Crusaders were dealt a hard hand playing a tough Bishop McDevitt squad, who improved to 23-4 on the season after defeating Lansdale 70-31. 

Junior Riley DeVitis and sophomore Timaya Lewis-Eutsey led the Crusaders with seven points apiece. Additional LC Scoring: Lauren Edwards 6pts., Maile Erwin 5pts., Emily Smith 3pts., and Kristina Finkelston 3pts. 

PIAA 4A - Lansdale Catholic Game Highlights vs. Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg):

LC's seniors recall their favorite team memories & pass down advice to their teammates:

Class 3A – Neumann-Goretti (20-8; 12-1) had no problem with Warrior Run (19-9; 4-2), March 12, at Hamburg Area High School. With junior Diamond Johnson scoring 13 of her game-high 21 in the first quarter, the Saints opened up a 44-10 halftime lead and emptied the bench in a 69-16 win. Diamond is now 12 points shy of a career 2,000.

Up Next: Dunmore (27-0; 2-1), March 15, at Lehighton Elementary Center, 7:00.

Saint Chat: “In order for us to win this game, we need to come ready to play, stay together, and play solid defense. We know we can score the ball, but can we get stop after stop on the defensive end.” – Diamond Johnson

(John Knebels can be reached at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)

Neumann-Goretti Photos by Zamani Feelings: