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By Matt Smith

Leah Hudak and Cardinal O’Hara knew they couldn’t afford to keep playing at the breakneck pace set in the opening quarter.

In their PIAA Class 6A tournament opener against Central Bucks East, the defending state champions found themselves in a fast-paced shootout early. The teams combined for 11 field goals – six from beyond the arc – and 30 points in the first eight minutes. Hudak’s late drive trimmed C.B. East’s lead to two, but the Lions knew they had to make some changes on the defensive end.

O’Hara wasn’t going to let the Patriots keep getting clean looks. C.B. East had four legitimate shooters, led by Natalie Berndt, who knocked down two triples in the first, alongside Jess Lockwood and Haley Moran, the team’s top all-around playmaker. Out of the first-quarter huddle, O’Hara locked in defensively, turning up the pressure with tight face-guarding, making it nearly impossible for the Patriots to get into their sets.

“We talked about it as a team. They were making a lot of shots,” said Hudak, a sophomore. “We couldn’t let them get as many shots off. We had to play better defense, because defense wins games.”

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By Joseph Santoliquito 

Archbishop Carroll 61, Council Rock South 42

The Patriots, District 12’s No. 1 seed in PIAA Class 6A, started strong and never had to look back, getting out to an 11-0 lead and maintaining a double-digit lead throughout much of the opening round Class 6A playoff game.

Carroll (18-9) will now advance to play District 3 No. 5-seed Wilson in the second round on Tuesday.

The Pats were led by junior Alexis Eberz game-high 16 points, followed by freshman Kayla Eberz’s 15, and sophomore Abbie McFillin’s 13. Council Rock South (21-6) ended a highly successful season, winning the Suburban One League Patriot Conference and qualifying for the state playoffs for the first time since 2012.

The Pats reached the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals last season. This season, they are a far younger team, placing a lot on players like freshman Kayla Eberz and sophomore McFillin. The victory over Council Rock South was Kayla’s first state playoff game.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The play in the fourth quarter had broken down, and Bishop Shanahan was looking for a fix.

Archbishop Carroll had turned up its pressure, the defensive energy that got it back in front in the third quarter of its PIAA Class 4A opening-round affair Friday night. Two Carroll players surrounded the ball just inside the halfcourt line, and Shanahan needed an out.

The find was to Anthony Aquino, the sixth man in a rotation that only rolls six deep. And while other Carroll defenders took to more conventional targets, Aquino found the lane open wide for him and laid in off the glass with his right, a confident blow-by that belied where he might have fallen on the chart of offensive options.

The basket was part of a 13-3 fourth quarter run that ultimately sent the District 1 champion Eagles past Carroll, 72-63. It tidily typified the difference between the teams Friday: Where Bishop Shanahan got contributions from everyone and anyone who stepped on the floor in a cohesive offensive performance, Carroll’s (arguably superior) talent was undone by the lack of connection wrought by a season of ill-timed injuries.

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By Owen McCue

The Neumann-Goretti boys basketball team has a stable of speedy guards who can give opponents fits.

The Saints also have a 6-foot-6 big man who can take over down low.

When both pieces of the Neumann-Goretti attack are clicking, the Saints are tough to beat as Marple Newtown found out on Friday night.

Junior forward Alassan N’Diaye scored 26 points and the Saints drained 10 first-half threes in a 79-67 victory over the Tigers in a PIAA Class 5A opening-round game.

“It’s pretty tough, you’re not stopping it,” N’Diaye said of the N-G offensive attack when it’s firing on all cylinders.

The perimeter game clicked early for Neumann-Goretti (15-11) on Friday. N’Diaye, Keon Long-Mtume (15 points), DeShawn Yates (12 points), Stephon Ashley-Wright (12 points) and Jayden Williams all hit from deep to spot N-G a 25-11 lead after one.

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By Dan Arkans

Seniors Molly Rullo and Brigid Macgillivray have put the Cardinal O’Hara girls basketball team back in position for another run at a PIAA 6A title.

Throughout the season the dynamic duo has not only led them in scoring, rebounding and playmaking, but their experience has provided intangibles that do not come across in stats. The offense quite simply runs through the pair.

A funny thing happened though as the Lions began their defense of another state title on Friday night against Central Bucks East, the fourth-place finisher out of District 1.

MacGillivray got two quick fouls in the first quarter and never really got in the flow of the game. All of the Patriots’ defensive attention was on Rullo, who earned all 12 of her points, only four of which came in the first half. 

O’Hara responded with a balanced attack of seven players scoring and flat-out dominated the game with a suffocating defense in the second half as the Lions rolled to the 48-28 victory.

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By Josh Verlin

Class 1A: Christian Academy 66, Liguori Academy 41

When he arrived at The Christian Academy’s Brookhaven campus last year, Cameron Harrop-Wilson didn’t want to upset the Crusaders’ balance. He knew that TCA already had a quality guard in his class in Sir Guy Epps Jr., and, knowing his own scoring abilities, didn’t want to start a kind of power struggle.

Instead, it’s been a boon for both of them. The two guards form a potent 1-2 punch for the Crusaders, feeding off each other like they’ve played together their whole lives.

“I came in and I thought it was going to be a battle for that but he welcomed me in like a brother,” Harrop-Wilson said. “Me and Sir, we get it done every time, we mix like peanut butter and jelly.”

With the duo combining for 44 points on Friday, TCA picked up its first-ever state playoff win, beating Liguori Academy 66-41 in the opening round of the Class 1A boys’ tournament at Shanahan.

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