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By Matt Smith

If Cardinal O’Hara has anything in common with Spring-Ford, its opponent in Friday’s PIAA Class 6A championship game, it’s that each team has unfinished business.

The Lions were eliminated in the semifinal round of the 2023 tournament, falling by one point to eventual state champ Archbishop Carroll. Meanwhile, the Rams were ousted by O’Hara in the quarterfinals a season ago, and hope to avoid leaving Hershey empty-handed for the second time in four years.

O’Hara (25-4) and Spring-Ford (27-6) are vying for the title of best girls basketball team in PIAA’s highest classification. Tipoff at the Giant Center is 6 p.m.

O’Hara captured Class 5A championships in 2021 and 2022. Those teams were led by two-time Daily Times Player of the Year Maggie Doogan (Richmond) and All-Delco Amaris Baker (Drexel), both of whom have played key roles in helping their college squads to the NCAA Tournament. In 2021, when Spring-Ford lost to North Allegheny in the Class 6A final, Villanova star Lucy Olsen was arguably the best high school player in Pennsylvania.

There is connective tissue on both current rosters linking the teams’ previous state championship runs.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

After the first quarter Thursday night, the PIAA’s DJ queued up some Sia for the fans in attendance at the Giant Center. The pop star and wig aficionado wasn’t singing about Lincoln Park’s offense. But she may as well have been.

The Leopards were, as the Australian intoned, unstoppable. A 15-for-19 start from the field and 37 points in a signature performance by Brandin Cummings helped the charter school from Midland claim an 80-50 decision over Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA Class 4A final.

It’s the 19th straight win and fourth state title for Lincoln Park, one shy of the school whose building they inherited, Midland High. It won this game over Neumann-Goretti, 62-58, last year. All the energy that Carroll, the seventh-place team in the Catholic League and third seed out of District 12, expended to make this run to Hershey was used Thursday not to get blown out.

Lincoln Park just took what it wanted offensively early. It went on a 16-0 run in the first quarter and led 51-22 at halftime on 21-for-30 shooting. Only some prudent clock killing by a team that played like it’s been to this stage before kept the score reasonable.

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By Austin Herzog

It’s hard to find a team more level-headed than the Spring-Ford girls’ basketball squad.

The wins — there have been many — don’t elicit the euphoria you’ll see from other programs. That has a lot to do with the pedigree that comes from District 1’s most successful program over the last 15 years.

The losses — there have been significant ones — don’t come with a crushing, tearful display.

Both sides of the coin, and the Rams’ response to each, is what has delivered Spring-Ford to this moment, a spot in the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday against District 12 powerhouse Cardinal O’Hara.

The Rams and Lions meet in the state playoffs for a second straight year, this time on the big stage of the Giant Center in Hershey at 6 p.m. Friday.

It’s the final hurrah for a pair of senior-led squads that have experienced more winning than almost any others in the last four years.

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By Bob Grotz

Almost hidden by the championship talent that will be on display in the PIAA Class 6A girls’ championship between Cardinal O’Hara and Spring-Ford Friday is the understated savvy of the coaches.

In addition to the players, Chrissie Doogan of Cardinal O’Hara and Mickey McDaniel of Spring-Ford also are among the best at what they do in the state, and it will only take a few minutes for spectators to realize that when they begin watching the chess match at the Giant Center in Hershey (6 p.m.,, PCN, pcntv.com/basketball stream).

Doogan and McDaniel stood tall among a skilled cast of coaches in the final four round of the state playoffs. Doogan’s Lions wore out a once-beaten and highly skilled Perkiomen Valley squad with gifted 6-foot-3 center Quinn Boettinger and aggressive forward Grace Galbavy (6-0), using a defense that relentlessly overplayed the strengths of those playmakers, and wound up making the former a liability late in the contest.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The realization set in for Archbishop Carroll guard Darrell Davis once the families lined up and the carnations came out.

It was Senior Night at Archbishop Carroll last month for the Patriots’ 2023 state champion girls team. Davis, the freshman point guard on the boys team, got a glimpse of the time difference between Carroll’s girls and his team.

“When our girls had a senior night, we looked like, man, we’re not going to have a senior night for two more years,” Davis said. “Us having sophomores as our leaders, that’s pretty big for them. It’s something big on their shoulders that they’re got to carry.”

Carroll’s roster may look very different, but it has achieved what the girls team did a year ago: A trip to Hershey for a state final.

Carroll’s young roster is looking to complete an unlikely state title run Thursday night, taking on District 7’s Lincoln Park in the Class 4A final at the Giant Center. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.

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By Andrew Robinson

Every good team needs a player like Greta Miller, luckily for Cardinal O’Hara, the Lions already have Greta Miller.

The senior isn’t going to lead the scorebook, but watch the Lions play for a few minutes and No. 11 will surely be flying around. Miller has been a star in her role this season as an intangible player who’s impact isn’t measured in numbers.

Miller will play her final game Friday night when Cardinal O’Hara faces Spring-Ford for the PIAA 6A title at Hershey’s Giant Center and she’s enjoyed every bit of the ride.

“It’s been awesome, of course, especially being a senior and this is my way of going out, the only word is awesome,” Miller said. “It’s my third time being able to go to Hershey and winning a third one would just make it so much better.”

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