Thus, Lansdale Catholic snared first place, Archbishop Wood nabbed second, and Cardinal O’Hara seized third. Each of those squads, along with fourth-place Archbishop Carroll, will host first-round games on February 16. After re-seeding if necessary, the final four will compete in the PCL semifinals at St. Joseph University’s University City campus (730 South 43rd Street) on February 21, and then the two survivors will meet in the league championship 6 PM February 27 at the famed Palestra.

“That COVID-shortened year (2020-21), we were in the Red Division and we took our lickings,” said Lansdale Catholic coach Eric Gidney, referring to an 0-11 finish against the PCL larger-enrollment schools after having gone undefeated in the smaller-school Catholic Blue the previous season. “So from a body of work standpoint, from where we were then to where we are now, being the number-one seed, yeah, it’s great.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything. What we do with that seeding is the most important part.”

Lansdale Catholic senior standout Gabby Casey agrees.

Junior Olivia Boccella (six points on two high-arcing three-pointers from the right corner), sophomore Nadia Yemola (six points on three athletics buckets), and sophomore Sanyiah Littlejohn (four points, pesky defense) joined the duo with memorable outings.

“It’s great,” said Helm, referring to Lansdale Catholic’s balanced scoring. “It’s really fun to play with them. It’s anybody’s night. Tonight just happened to be my night. (The next game) might be somebody else’s night.”

Five nights earlier, Lansdale Catholic had dropped a riveting 53-51 decision to visiting Cardinal O’Hara despite trailing by double digits heading into the final quarter. Littlejohn led the comeback attempt with an electric 20 points.

Helm picked up three fouls by the 6:17 mark of the first quarter. She was whistled for a fourth 1:12 into the third, eventually fouled out with seven seconds remaining in regulation, and finished scoreless. Though she scored 16 points, Casey made several uncharacteristic turnovers.

But that version of the Crusaders was nowhere to be found against Wood. Instead, Lansdale Catholic notched its most important PCL victory since entering the league 15 years ago.

“It’s just a mindset,” said Casey. “Just turn the page. Everybody has bad games here and there. You just have to go to the next one no matter what happens.

“Our intensity on defense helps our offense. Jaida had a great night scoring from everywhere (against Wood) and then everybody contributed. That started with the defense coming out with intensity.”

Archbishop Wood coach Mike McDonald accepted a large share of the blame for his team’s uncharacteristic performance.

“It comes down on me first and foremost for not settling them down, maybe run some different looks,” said McDonald, whose Vikings came one win shy of securing the program’s first undefeated regular season since the 2016-17 campaign. “We have a lot of video and things to learn about ourselves.

“They (Lansdale Catholic) played really well. We were a stop slow defensively and a step slow rebounding the basketball. Offensively, we weren’t getting anything. We weren’t moving the ball enough to get something good. We were going to the basket and kind of forcing things up. This is a much better time to lose than later on in February.”

Since losing at Wood, 47-37, on January 24, Cardinal O’Hara has rattled off five straight victories, highlighted by the aforementioned win at Lansdale Catholic.

The defending champion Lions also lost only once last year, but they rebounded with a dominant performance against Archbishop Carroll in the championship.

Some figured this would be a rebuilding year for coach Chrissie Doogan. The Lions ignored the prognostication.

Though In fourth place with a 7-3 record, Archbishop Carroll came close to forging a 9-1 mark. The Patriots blew a huge 15-0 first-quarter lead in a 40-36 loss at O’Hara, and against Lansdale Catholic, the Patriots erased a miserable 14-3 second quarter by outscoring the Crusaders by 26-19 and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead in the final minute of regulation.

In typical fashion, sisters Taylor and Brooke Wilson shouldered the bulk of the scoring. Brooke, a junior, tallied 13 of her 19 points in a brilliant second half. Taylor, a senior playing her final regulation game, scored 11 of her 16 during the same time frame.

Eight-seed Archbishop Ryan (3-7 league record) faces top-seed Lansdale Catholic, which defeated the visiting Ragdolls, 75-29, on January 19. After starting 0-6, Ryan won three of its final four, including a 58-40 playoff clincher at Little Flower in which Delaney Finn poured in a career-high 30 points on sizzling 10-for-18 shooting from three-point land. The junior finished the season with 65 three pointers, believed to be a school record. Sophomore Reynah Rattliff surpassed 100 assists for the season.

“We are happy, but not satisfied,” said Ryan coach Julian Rattliff. “We understand that we have to turn it up a notch and believe we have another level to hit before the season ends. I'm looking forward to my ladies gaining the experience to hopefully push us forward in the future.

Conwell-Egan coach Chris Brennan will need big games from – in particular – senior post Kyliyah Carmichael and sophomore point guard Lily Milewski. He acknowledged that the Eagles face an uphill battle going against a team that overwhelmed them six weeks earlier, but said his team has improved since then despite having lost junior captain Mya Aizen to a season-ending injury in mid-January.

“We are also playing with more confidence,” said Brennan. “Since opening the PCL season with Wood, we have had a lot of opportunities to address issues since then.”  

Six-seed West Catholic (5-5) lost to Cardinal O’Hara, 55-21, in a regular-season finale on Feb. 9. Now, the Burrs take on the three-seed Lions in a rematch.

As a five-seed last year, the Saints surprised Lansdale Catholic, 66-52, after having lost to the Crusaders, 71-64, just 12 nights earlier.

Neumann-Goretti coach Andrea Peterson, a former Archbishop Carroll star who scored the winning free throw in a 36-35 championship win over Cardinal O’Hara in 2003, and then amassed 10 points, six assists, and three steals in a 56-33 title victory win over O’Hara in 2004, now faces her alma mater in the playoffs for a second straight season (50-35 loss in last year’s semifinals) and third since 2018 (48-47 win in semifinals).

After receiving particularly consistent production from sophomores Carryn Easley and Amya Scott, Peterson was asked to compare a playoff game to a regular-season tilt.