GIRLS BASKETBALL: York Catholic out-muscles St. Basil

By Nick Iuele
niuele@montgomerynews.com

It was a great PIAA tournament run for St. Basil, but in the end size is important for winning championships and the Lady Panthers just didn’t have enough of it against York Catholic.

St. Basil fought its heart out and made things interesting with the three-pointer, but a bad first half foreshadowed an even worse second stanza as the Lady Panthers lost 45-28 in the semifinal round of the PIAA Class AA tournament at Reading High School. Unable to cope with a very physical York Catholic team, St. Basil was out-rebounded and out-muscled all night in what would be the final game of a great season.

“What can you do, they were the better team,” St. Basil coach Terry Mancini said. “I’m disappointed for our seniors. Obviously we got the experience to make a run like this. We had two student fan buses come out tonight, which was great. I’m proud to be a part of the Basil community and I’m proud of the 15 girls in that locker room.”

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: St. Basil topples Notre Dame, advances to Eastern final

By Nick Iuele
niuele@montgomerynews.com

Adversity is something that comes along with playing in the state tournament. How a team handles that adversity shows how far it can go. If St. Basil’s quarterfinal win is any indication, the Lady Panthers have what it takes to win the whole thing.

“We were out of sync in the third quarter,” St. Basil coach Terry Mancini said. “We were playing a patient game and they got us running up and down. If you had asked me if we would be in the final foul after losing to Villa in the league, I wouldn’t believe it. I give the girls a lot of credit.”

After a disastrous three-point third quarter, St. Basil rallied in the final period with good defense and clutch shooting to clip Notre Dame-Green Pond, 45-42, and clinched a spot in the PIAA Class AA final four. Led by Kalee Fuegel’s 12 points, St. Basil battled all game and was rewarded with the prize of a shot at a state title.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford eases by Dover into state semifinals

By Dennis Weller
For Montgomery Media

For Montgomery Media / BARRY TAGLIEBER Spring-Ford's Sammi Haas drives past Dover's Maxine Herman during Friday's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game.

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All season long, the Spring-Ford girls have been on a mission to make it further than they did last year. And after 32 games, that goal is finally right at their fingertips after they advanced to the PIAA Class AAAA Final Four for the second straight season on Friday night with a 67-45 win over Dover at Garden Spot High School.

One Ram or another seemed to have a hot hand the entire night as five players scored at least nine points, including 15 apiece by Sammy Stipa and Sarah Payonk. Alayah Hall scored 20 for Dover. Spring-Ford (30-2) will face Cardinal O’Hara, a 60-24 winner over Central Dauphin, in a Tuesday semifinal at a time and place to be determined.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Cumberland Valley handles North Penn

By Mike Cabrey
mcabrey@journalregister.com

For Montgomery Media / MARK C. PSORAS North Penn's Jackie Bilotti and Cumberland Valley's Alyssa Hinish battle for a loose ball during Friday's PIAA Class AAAA playoff game.

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A poor start left the North Penn girls basketball team trailing Cumberland Valley by 10 at halftime of Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal.

But if anybody had the blueprint to come back from that deficit, it would have been the Maidens. Three days prior, North Penn erased Wilson’s 10-point advantage at intermission en route to a second-round win over the District Three champion.

Cumberland Valley, however, tore whatever rally plans the Maidens had to shreds at the very start in the second half.

The Eagles opened the third with a 10-0 run, extending their advantage to 20 and North Penn never recovered as its season came to an end with a 53-36 loss at Garden Spot High School.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lancaster Catholic eases past Archbishop Wood

By Mike Prince
mprince@montgomerynews.com

Everything appeared to be going right for Archbishop Wood.

The three-time defending state champion Lady Vikings, whose experience has gone a long way over the past few postseasons, weren’t missing many shots. Their opponent, Lancaster Catholic, was missing almost everything, and the momentum appeared to be on Wood’s side.

But then, the third quarter happened.

It was a tale of two halves, as Lancaster Catholic finished the third on an 18-1 run and eventually cruised to a 54-46 win over Wood in a PIAA Class AAA second round playoff at Reading High School’s Geigle Complex on Wednesday night.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Steelton-Highspire speeds past Jenkintown

By Nick Iuele
niuele@montgomerynews.com

Jenkintown had one of the better seasons in recent Lady Drakes’ history, but a deep run into the state tournament was not in the cards for Jim Romano’s crew.

Steelton-Highspire essentially led wire to wire in a 74-39 win over Jenkintown in the PIAA Class A second round at Garden Spot High School. The Lady Rollers’ transition game and physical play proved too much for the Lady Drakes from the opening tip-off and although they played better as the game went on, it was never close.

“We knew going in the first quarter was going to show us where we were at in the game,” Romano said. “Steel-High is a very experienced team and this is our first time here in a while and these girls first time here. The first quarter was definitely a telling time in the game.”

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Norristown falls to Coatesville

By Rick Kauffman
rkauffman@journalregister.com

The hanging heads of Norristown’s players tell the tale differently than how the song should be sung. Filing out of the gym one by one with long faces shrouded beneath jackets, tears in their eyes, the Eagles’ season came to an end Wednesday night.

Coatesville, the victor, played a game quite similar to the style Norristown has become accustomed to — an unstoppable machine of high flying players with big dunks, sick handles and opportune shooting. Coatesville played the game Norristown wished they had, winning 58-52.

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SPRING TRAINING: Biddle's patient working his way up the ladder

By Dennis Deitch
ddeitch@journalregister.com, @DennisDeitch

CLEARWATER, Fla. – When you talk with Jesse Biddle, you feel like you're speaking with someone older than 21. Not only does he come across as more mature than his age, but you get the sense that he is aware of it, as well.

Thirty-two months ago the Germantown Friends product was the first-round selection of the Phillies, a strapping left-hander with a lively arm and an even livelier imagination.

"When I signed," Biddle said, "I was like, 'I'm going to be in the big leagues by the time I'm 19.'"

It was confident thinking. Or, it was silly thinking. You can count the number of players who have made their debuts as teenagers over the past decade on one hand. The number of pitchers is two – Seattle's Felix Hernandez, perhaps the best pitching prospect of the last quarter-century, and Baltimore's Dylan Bundy, who got to make two relief appearances with the Orioles in 2012 when their pitching staff was so wracked by injuries and thinned by a long extra-inning game late in the year that they had little choice but to turn to the 19-year-old.

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FOOTBALL: Eagles sign Dorenbos, Anderson

By Bob Grotz
For Montgomery Media

Newly signed veterans Jon Dorenbos and Colt Anderson swear they don’t know what direction the Eagles will go in when free agency officially begins today at 4 p.m.

But the newly signed duo figures anything is better than the way it was.

It’s early, but Eagles players think rookie NFL head coach Chip Kelly is a breath of fresh air compared to Andy Reid, who was fired after 14 predictable seasons, the last one a 4-12 collapse.

“We’re making moves to get good guys back,” said Anderson, who as a restricted free agent signed a one-year tender Monday. “We’ve got Chip Kelly, who’s beyond his years as far as knowledge of the game. I think it’s going to bring a whole new energy and we’re going to win a few more games than we did last year.”

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Jenkintown eases past Paul Robeson

By Tim Hindin
thindin@montgomerynews.com

At some points in the game between Jenkintown and Paul Robeson, it looked more like a game of one-on-one than five aside basketball. Jenkintown was able to force turnovers throughout the game leading to fast breaks with minimum Robeson defenders back.

The Huskies offensive strategy was to go through their best player guard Tiffany Then to attack the Jenkintown man-to-man defense.

In the end the defensive pressure of the Drakes combined with easy fast break points as well as efficiency in half court sets saw them overwhelm Paul Robeson and cruse to a 58-27 win in the opening round of the PIAA Class A tournament.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Abington falls to St. Joseph's Prep

By Mike Prince
mprince@montgomerynews.com

Montgomery Media / BOB RAINES Abington's Khalid Gibson lofts a shot over St. Joseph Prep's Miles Overton during Saturday's PIAA Class AAAA playoff game at William Tennent.

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After a regular season good enough to give Abington its first conference title in 10 years, followed by a district playoff run which helped the Ghosts to their highest win total since 1997, it wasn’t an ideal start to the state tournament for coach Charles Grasty and his team.

Already with star senior Jordan Simmons out of the lineup due to off-the-court problems, Abington was forced to play from behind from the very start against a tough St. Joseph’s Prep team which finished second overall in a talented Philadelphia Catholic League.

In the end, the combination of missing one of their best players and a size disadvantage down low was enough to do in the Ghosts, whose season ended following a 48-33 loss to the Hawks in a PIAA Class AAAA first round playoff at William Tennent High on Saturday afternoon.

http://bit.ly/ZbTeoL

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Archbishop Wood runs past Pope John Paul II

By Dave Holloway
dholloway@montgomerynews.com

A week ago, the Pope John Paul II players were enjoying a win over Lower Moreland in the District One Class AAA third-place game and celebrating the program’s first berth in the PIAA tournament.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Wood, the three-time defending PIAA Class AAA champion, was searching for answers after a pair of disappointing, low-scoring losses.

So while the Panthers basked in the limelight of a huge accomplishment, the Lady Vikings went back to the drawing board.

“We went back and looked at what we had done and what we had become,” Wood coach Jim Ricci said. “We wanted to be more competitive with each other. We looked tired. We had to make our shifts shorter and play more people.”

Ricci decided to pressure all over the floor, push the ball whenever possible and substitute five players at a time every two or three minutes. For openers it worked like a charm.

The Lady Vikings forced 12 first quarter turnovers, then pushed the ball up the court en route to a 22-0 lead after eight minutes and never looked back, rolling to an impressive 60-39 victory in the PIAA Class AAA first round game at Archbishop Carroll on Saturday.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Norristown soars past Roman Catholic

By Rick Kauffman
rkauffman@journalregister.com

For Montgomery Media / RICK KAUFFMAN Norristown's Luke Kelley glides in for two of his 28 points in a 79-66 PIAA Class AAAA playoff win over Roman Catholic on Saturday.

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Rome wasn’t built it a day, but it took less than three hours for it to fall. Norristown came with no fear of the heavily favored Roman Catholic basketball team on Saturday in a 79-66 win at La Salle College High School.

The young Roman Catholic squad, with only one graduating senior, start three sophomores and two juniors, showed their inexperience Saturday night. Norristown beat them on the fast break, caught them sleeping on the defensive help, confused them with different zone looks, out-hustled them and just out-played them in the first round of PIAA Class AAAA playoffs.

Senior point guard, Bernard Gordon, put the game plan simply: “Play hard, have toughness, be hungry, stay focused.”

The Eagles’ starting five — Kelley, Hargrove, Johnson, Gordon and Bryant — scored all but four of the team’s 79 points. They played enthused, high-tempo basketball. Josh Johnson had himself a game. He was spectacular. His jumping ability and length of arm made him no match for Roman’s big man, Manny Taylor. On top of 18 points, he tallied 21 rebounds—eight offensive for 10 points—and had six blocks.

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SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE

Jenkintown vs. Paul Robeson girls basketball at Archbishop Carroll, 3:30 p.m.

Abington vs. St. Joseph’s Prep boys basketball at William Tennent, 3 p.m.

Archbishop Wood vs. Pope John Paul II girls basketball at Archbishop Carroll, 5 p.m.

Norristown vs. Roman Catholic boys basketball at La Salle High, 5 p.m.

Methacton vs. York boys basketball at Dallastown, 6:30 p.m.

PIAA Wrestling Championships, GIANT Center, Hershey

GIRLS BASKETBALL: St. Basil rolls over School of the Future

By Dave Holloway
dholloway@montgomerynews.com

Montgomery Media / BOB RAINES St. Basil's Kate Skalski goes up for a shot past School of the Future's Hajaaha Stevens during Friday's PIAA Class AA playoff game.

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When Hajaaha Stevens won the opening tap, then proceeded to post up and get a high-percentage shot on the game’s first possession Friday night, it appeared as though the School of the Future had something to work with even though the ball rolled around the rim and off.

But that first look was mighty deceiving because it was more than four minutes and nine turnovers later before the Firebirds put up another shot. And then it was another 3½ minutes and another six turnovers before a third shot was taken.

By then, St. Basil had a 16-2 lead and was well on its way to a 69-29 victory in the first round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs at Colonial Middle School.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Susquehanna Township explodes past shorthanded Upper Moreland

By Dave Holloway
dholloway@montgomerynews.com

Montgomery Media / BOB RAINES Upper Moreland's Mark Williams goes up for a shot between two Susquehanna Township defenders during Friday's PIAA Class AAA playoff action.

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Susquehanna Township’s Joseph Marshall took a shot toward the end of the first quarter Friday night and missed everything.

In the tradition of student sections from all over the country, he was promptly serenaded with chants of “airball” every time he touched the ball.

Well, not every time. The chant didn’t last long. Marshall barely touched the rim on his next six shots, but they all got a lot of net as the sophomore scored 13 of his game-high 17 points to spark a 23-4, second-quarter run that left shorthanded Upper Moreland reeling.

The Indians then cruised to a 62-42 win in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs at Colonial Middle School.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hot-shooting Archbishop Carroll upends Upper Dublin

By Tim Hindin
thindin@montgomerynews.com

Three is greater than two. It’s not just a first grade math problem, but the story of a first round state playoff matchup between Upper Dublin and Archbishop Carroll.

The three-point shooting of Carroll allowed them to create distance from Upper Dublin and win the PIAA Class AAAA first round game, 54-43, and advance to the next round.

http://bit.ly/Yjw1Pb

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Mount St. Joseph falls to Cumberland Valley

By Mike Prince
mprince@montgomerynews.com

It was fitting that after Mount St. Joseph’s only two regular season losses came to Cumberland Valley and Spring-Ford, a loss to the very same Spring-Ford team would set up the Magic for a state playoff game against the only other team which defeated them this year.

Unfortunately, for the Mount, there would be no revenge handed out to Cumberland Valley in the rematch.

The Magic watched as its season came to an end following a 35-34 loss to the Eagles, who went up early and never trailed again in a PIAA Class AAAA first round playoff at Cheltenham High School on Friday night.

http://bit.ly/13M1MIA

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hinnant leads Spring-Ford past Hershey

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

For Montgomery Media / BARRY TAGLIEBER Spring-Ford's Sarah Payonk works underneath the basket against Hershey's Libby Nolan during first-round state playoff action at Norristown High School.

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Were she on any other team — in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, District 1 or the entire state — Courtney Hinnant would likely be a starter.

Problem is, the squad that Hinnant suits up for, Spring-Ford, has a starting lineup that is simply stacked.

With the sudden offseason emergence of players such as Shelby Mueller and Sammi Haas, Rams coach Jeff Rinehimer made the tough decision to bring Hinnant (who started most of last year) off the bench this season.

Rather than rebel, however, the 5-foot-10 senior forward has embraced the move — which has in turn strengthened Spring-Ford’s already formidable rotation.

Friday night at Norristown High, Hinnant showed what she is capable of in helping the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 champion Rams down District 3 No. 7 seed Hershey 59-41 in a PIAA Class AAAA Tournament opener.

http://bit.ly/13NuIAg

GIRLS BASKETBALL: North Penn holds off Pocono Mountain West

By Kev Hunter
khunter@journalregister.com

Pocono Mountain West had reached the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament in large part due to its three-point shooting.

But it was North Penn’s three-point shooting that tilted control to the Maidens Friday night and put them in the lead for good against the Panthers.

Jenn Halcovage, Vicky Tumasz and Erin Maher all hit from outside as part of a 17-1 first-half run for North Penn, and the Maidens’ defense forced 20 turnovers in holding off Pocono Mountain West, 44-38, in a first-round state playoff game at Pleasant Valley High School.

North Penn now advances to face Wilson in the second round on Tuesday.

http://bit.ly/Y2eVX0

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Cardinal O'Hara topples Methacton

By Denny Dyroff
For Montgomery Media

The first half of Friday night’s game between Methacton and Cardinal O’Hara had a bit of an undertaker vibe.

The O’Hara girls were burying threes with amazing ease in the PIAA Class AAAA girls basketball opening round game at Bonner-Prendergast High’s gym. Methacton, on the other hand, was digging a hole for itself that was almost too deep to allow escape.

The second half was a different game. O’Hara didn’t make a three-point basket the entire half and the Warriors outplayed the team from Delaware County for long stretches in both the third and fourth quarters.

Methacton closed to within six in the final half of the fourth quarter. But, the experienced Lions, who are ranked third in the state, withstood the surge and held on for a hard-fought 46-34 victory.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Pope John Paul II edges Bethlehem Catholic

By Jeff Stover
jstover@journalregister.com

He came up with the battle cry for Pope John Paul II’s entry into the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.

Then Nick Demeno put his basketball talents where his mantra was Friday, helping the Golden Panthers outlast Bethlehem Catholic, 59-56, at Bethlehem Freedom High School.

Demeno scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter of a game PJP appeared in danger of losing, sparking its comeback against District 11’s second seed. It validated the pronouncement the Panthers’ senior guard made when approached by his head coach about the status of the team’s starting lineup.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford rolls past Mount St. Joseph for district title

By Mike Prince
mprince@montgomerynews.com

Montgomery Media / BOB RAINES Spring-Ford's Brittany Moore drives past Mount St. Joseph's Adrienne Cellucci during Friday's District One Class AAAA championship game at Villanova.

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Mount St. Joseph hadn’t lost a game since Jan. 12, winning 14 in a row since that defeat. Unfortunately, for the Magic, that loss came against the very team – Spring-Ford – which they were going up against in the district championship game.

Though both teams entered with identical 26-2 records, the Magic were absolutely no test for Spring-Ford, which ran up the score thanks to a 27-0 run between the second and third quarters.

In the end, that run prompted the Lady Rams to their second consecutive district title thanks to a 51-30 win in the District One Class AAAA final at the Pavilion at Villanova University on Friday night.

The Magic were shut out in the third quarter and went nearly 13 full minutes without scoring a single point as the top-seeded Lady Rams (27-2) ran away with their second victory over MSJ (26-3) this season.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: St. Basil takes care of business, captures District One Class AA title

By Dave Holloway
dholloway@montgomerynews.com

Montgomery Media / BOB RAINES Delco Christian's Jamie Barr harasses St. Basil's Molly Greenberg during Friday's District One Class AA championship game at Villanova.

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There was little, if any, shaking. And no deer-in-the-bright-lights stares. The St. Basil girls basketball team knew it had business to take care of on Friday night and playing at The Pavilion at Villanova University wasn’t going to change that.

“Coach (Terry) Mancini said it was just a court like any other court,” Panthers junior Kate Skalski said. “And we came out and played like we were playing on a regular court.”

The Panthers put on a clinic in the first half in building a big league, withstood a third quarter run by Delco Christian, then put the hammer down in the fourth quarter to earn a 47-28 victory and the District One Class AA championship.

http://bit.ly/XJIU93

BOYS BASKETBALL: Abington locks up District One third seed with win over Great Valley

By Nick Iuele
niuele@montgomerynews.com

Abington went into its playback game with one thing in mind: grabbing the District One Class AAAA three seed at states and checking its fitness. Mission accomplished.

The Ghosts travelled to Great Valley and won, 53-47, locking up a favorable seed in the upcoming PIAA tournament. Led by Michael Griffin’s 16 points off the bench, Abington did not have the prettiest of wins, but it completed the task at hand.

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