ROYERSFORD, PA – Quality over quantity.
In Saturday afternoon’s PIAA class 6A quarterfinal between Cardinal O'Hara and North Penn at Spring-Ford High School, no single O’Hara player accumulated an exorbitant amount of statistics.
Because of that, the Lions advanced to the state semifinals with a bruising, scrappy 51-45 victory. On 7:30 Monday at Spring-Ford, they will meet Boyertown.
Mary Sheehan talks about O’Hara’s ultimate goal-winning the state title for head coach Linus McGinty
Kenzie Gardler talks about O’Hara’s team chemistry and confidence in the state playoff race
Maura Hendrixson discusses O'Hara's defensive strategy in her post game interview
“When you have five kids who are offensive threats, it makes us hard to guard,” said senior Mary Sheehan. “Everybody is sharing the ball.”
The always clutch Sheehan, who scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked two shots, was one of four O’Hara starters to score in double digits. Junior Maura Hendrixson netted 12 points and snared a game-high eight rebounds – seven of them on the defensive end; junior Kenzie Gardler tallied 12 points; and senior Hannah Nihill added 10 points and two steals. For good measure, junior Molly Paolino came close to joining her teammates, but she finished with seven points to go along with her trademark sterling defense.
It was an O’Hara performance that has now become typical.
“No one cares who scores,” said Hendrixson. “We all trust each other with the ball. If we are open, we take it. If we miss it, we don’t get down on each other.”
Since the beginning of the postseason, O’Hara has engineered a renaissance. With a palpable confidence throughout the lineup, the Lions (25-3) have defeated all kinds of teams.
The victory over North Penn (25-5) required patient ball movement on offense and significant physical exertion on defense. Rarely did the Lions waste a possession on an ill-advised shot or an unnecessarily creative pass. The patience paid off in the form of 17-for-36 shooting from the field (6 of 16 from three-point land), many of the buckets via driving layups through the teeth of North Penn’s mountainous forwards.
In the fourth quarter, Gardler took control. Coming into the pivotal stanza, Gardler had scored three points; however, her floor game as a combo point guard and swingman, and her overall defense, cannot be understated.
Gardler, who has already committed to Villanova, scored O’Hara's first nine points of the quarter, undoubtedly annoying North Penn and its loud but oft-obnoxious faithful that might have set a scholastic record for the most whining and complaining by a crowd.
But we digress.
Whenever North Penn inched a little too close for comfort, Gardler answered. Her three-point play gave O’Hara a 39-27 lead with 6:45 remaining in regulation, but North Penn scored the next seven points to come within 39-34.
More Gardler, who scored from inside to make it 41-34. North Penn answered with a bucket, but Gardler scored again. With 2:44 remaining, Gardler added two free throws.
“We had to keep up the intensity,” said Gardler. “We’ve been doing a great job of that.”
In the first quarter, O’Hara outscored the Maidens by 16-7. Nihill scored O’Hara’s first five points of the stanza; Molly Paolino the final five.
Although North Penn hung around to cause anxiety, the Lions were stronger than their opponent.
Clearly, this is a team that has been on a mission since the Catholic League playoffs began, especially after defeating Neumann-Goretti in the semifinal and defending champion Archbishop Wood in the championship.
“Those teams are amazing,” said Hendrixson. “They’re two of the best teams in the state. We told ourselves that if we can beat them, we can beat anyone.”
Gardler summed up her team’s goal.
“We just wanna get back to the (Hershey) Giant Center,” she said.
One more win, and that’s precisely where they’ll be going.
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com or on twitter @johnknebels.)