Haverford’s Natalie Wright led the Fords to a first-round PIAA Class 6A game against Dobbins on Friday. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group).
By Matthew DeGeorge
A year ago, Haverford’s dream season ended in a flash. Twenty-seven wins, then a loss in the District 1 Class 6A final and a first-round states setback, and a season that had marauded through the its first three months evaporated.
The Fords didn’t need a reminder Friday of what can happen when you start a tournament slow. Instead, the group this week let the ghosts of the past lie and focused on the task at hand.
“I think we’re just focusing on this year,” said forward Natalie Wright, after contributing 18 points to a 66-28 elimination of Murrell Dobbins in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament. “New people, new team, just moving forward. … Losing a game like that, you’ve just got to get back up. You can’t have that hanging over you, as the games go on, years go on. You’ve got to get up and give it everything.”
Haverford left nothing to chance in this game against the District 12 opponent at Archbishop Ryan High. The Fords scored 24 of the game’s first 26 points and stretched the lead to 35 late in the first half against an undermanned Dobbins squad. Like any other game, Lauren Pellicane’s team identified the matchups and exploited them – in this case, a marked height advantage that led to a 36-19 edge on the boards and length to find passing lanes off their ball movement.
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