Cardinal O’Hara junior Molly Rullo, shown taking a shot against Archbishop Wood in a January game, scored 17 points Tuesday night in a PIAA Class 6A second-round win over Hazleton. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matt Smith
Cardinal O’Hara’s Molly Rullo and Carly Coleman weren’t about to let Hazleton Area pull off a major upset in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament Tuesday night, so they decided to take control in the second half.
Rullo scored 13 of her game-high 17 points and Coleman added eight of her 13 after the break, leading O’Hara to a 55-46 win over the District 2 champion Cougars at Liberty High.
The junior Rullo and senior Coleman each drilled a 3-point field goal on successive possessions in the third quarter after Hazleton had trimmed its deficit to three and four points, respectively. O’Hara (23-4) had led by as many as nine points in the first half.
“I think that’s the difference between us and Hazleton, who are going to be back in this situation,” Lions coach Chrissie Doogan said. “We have a senior-laden team. Molly is basically a senior at this point; she’s played since she was a freshman. They embrace the moment. Molly struggled to put the ball in the basket early … but shooters shoot. She’s got a lot of confidence and did a great job.”
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