Cardinal O’Hara’s Carly Coleman (14) and Megan Rullo, left, lead the celebration after defeating Perkiomen Valley in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal Friday night at Norristown High School. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
By Bob Grotz
One sequence embodied the heady play of Cardinal O’Hara in its 49-35 win over top seeded and highly regarded Perkiomen Valley Friday in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.
With the third quarter winding down the Lions were holding a five-point lead and looking for a last shot. For a moment it looked like the Vikings’ frenetic defense had forced a stop. But the Lions skillfully swung the ball this way and that, inside and out until Molly Rullo found younger sister Megan outside the arc.
Faster than you could say, boom, and-1, the shot fell and Megan was fouled on the play. She hit the free throw for a rare four-point play sending the Lions (24-4) into the final frame with a nine-point lead.
The Vikings (29-2), the top seed out of District 1 who had lost only to nationally ranked Gill St. Bernard’s private school in northern New Jersey, never got closer than eight points the rest of the evening.
“They were doubling and we got it into the post,” Megan Rullo said. “Molly kicked it out, I was ready to shoot and let it go. Coach Chrissie (Doogan) always talks about getting your teammate the shot, that it’s not about getting your own shot, reverse the ball. And that’s what we really did. And we knocked down the shots that mattered.”
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