HERSHEY, Pa.–This past weekend the Giant Center in the sweetest place on earth, Hershey, Pennsylvania, played host to the PIAA High School Basketball State Finals. There were 16 teams in four classifications, including boys, competing over two days for coveted state titles. A five pound Hershey bar is at stake to the winner along with the obligatory medals and team trophy… but let’s face it…it’s the Hershey bar all the teams are playing for!
On the girl’s side of the playoffs, familiar faces adorned the Giant Center floor this weekend. In Class AAAA, Cumberland Valley is back for the fourth straight year, looking for a Three-Peat.
In Class AAA; the only team with the distinction of beating nationally ranked Neumann-Goretti, Archbishop Wood was on hand for their third straight crack at the crown. In Class AA, Goretti is back for their third straight trip to Hershey. The defending National Champ was looking to go Back-to-Back. Class A found a newbie, in comparison, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic which had not been to Hershey since 2012. CWNC has a rich tradition with the PIAA; the Trojanettes were hunting their eighth state title in school history.
PIAA CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojanettes 56 – Our Lady of Lourdes Red Raiders 33
It is safe to say that everyone in attendance at the Giant Center on Saturday was expecting something special from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (Cranberry, Pa.) forward Sam Breen. After all, the 6-1 junior has put up crazy numbers since a fouling out in a tough W.P.I.A.L championship loss to archrival Vincentian Academy.
A week later the PIAA state tournament began with a first round game vs Cochranton High School. By then the fire was raging out of control, Breen put up 32 points, 22 rebounds and 5 steals. In consequential rounds she continued to put up focused numbers, entering Saturday’s PIAA Class A championship game versus Our Lady of Lourdes Regional averaging 29.3 points over four PIAA games.
Prior to the championship game, it was clear that even Our Lady of Lourdes Regional (Coal Township, Pa.) coach Mike Klembara knew what he was up against. “She’s very, very good,” Klembar said of Breen.
“The girls realize what the challenge is. We have to do a great job on her. We’re not going to shut her down. I don’t think anyone has been able to shut her down.”
“We’re going to have to obviously control her as much as possible, limit our turnovers and, because of their size, box out.”
Despite starting the game slow on the scoring side, Breen remained focused. The good shots were coming; they just weren’t falling. What was working was her ability to deliver the ball to open teammates. Breen had four first half assists, mostly from the short corner when the Red Raiders double teamed her.
Because of her passing the Trojanettes were able to take an early second quarter 12-12 tie and turn it into a 25-18 halftime lead.
Sam Breen is very versatile for her size, she handles the ball with guard-like skill in the full court, can shoot the three, rebound and we’ve already mentioned her passing skills. At halftime, CWNC made a few adjustments versus the Lourdes Regional 2-2-1 press and half court 2-3 zone that allowed Breen to finally break loose… And break loose she did.
At the half, she had 11 points despite missing several easy attempts at the hoop. In the second stanza Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann put Breen in position to help 5’4” sophomore point guard Ashley Robbins break the press. To capitalize on their height advantage, the Trojanettes added another of the three Bigs (6-1 Breen, 6-2 junior Kylie Huffman and 6-2 freshman Dani Short) in the paint area to provide an unstoppable trio for the smaller Red Raiders.
The result: the CWNC Bigs accounted for 45 of the Trojanettes 56 total points and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic earned a 56-33 victory plus a PIAA Class A state championship, the eighth in school history.
As for Breen… when her curtain call came with about three minutes left in the game, she walked back to the Trojanettes bench with her mission accomplished…along with 27 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals.
Breen commented after the game; “…this is very satisfying, especially after losing the last two WPIAL championships. To win a state championship is huge; it means a lot.”
The Trojanettes will play in Class 4A next season when the PIAA goes to a controversial six classifications system. The reclassification has Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic separated from their long-time nemesis; Vincentian Academy and should provide a tougher day-to-day schedule. The Trojanettes will be a force to be reckoned with returning four of five starters including that big front line of Breen, Huffman, Shorts as well as point guard Robbins.
PIAA CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
Neumann-Goretti Saints 65 – North Star Cougars 28
Domination takes many forms in high school basketball. The term was also used in as many ways to describe much in the title game. By whatever definition or form used, Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia Pa.) girls’ basketball has been dominant for three plus years now.
Headed into this year’s PIAA Class AA Championship game, the Saints were a gaudy 87-2 and have pretty much breezed their way to the finals for the past three seasons, winning the crown the past two. Even during the 2013-14 season in which the Saints lost the state final, the Saints were dominant on their way to the championship game.
Neumann-Goretti coach Andrea Peterson was aware that anything could happen, she has seen it before. During that 2013-14 season as the Saints were in the process of building their national reputation. Peterson was the assistant coach of a team of talented but not necessarily disciplined group of young upstart athletes. A team that got by on athleticism and coaching but to the trained eye was in desperate need of skill development.
Peterson assumed control of the Saint’s program at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, worked tirelessly on her player’s knowledge of the game and the skill sets that was needed to go along with that knowhow. The results led back to Hershey once again with a dominating tight knit team that focused on a dream.
On Friday afternoon in Hershey the Saints took on a solid 2A team, North Star High School (Boswell Pa.). The Cougars amassed an impressive 27-2 record on their way to the finals. North Star has players…5’4” senior point guard Courtney Schrock can score with anyone and at 6 feet tall, junior forward Jackie Stanko can hold her own under the boards with most.
Problem is Neumann-Goretti is not “most”. The senior-laden Saints feature four NCAA Division I recruits: Alisha Kebbe- Syracuse, Kamiah Smalls- James Madison, Morgan Lenahan- Wagner and Jada Russell- Longwood.
At 5-10 Alisha Kebbe is one of the highly regarded talents in the state of Pennsylvania. Her game has no limits on either side of the court. Defensively she is active and can rebound taller than her size. Offensively, which a lot of times results from her defense, ranges from isolation on the wing, top and block, to using baseline screens to get open looks from the three point line. She is the quintessential college “3” position player and should prove that in the years to come at Syracuse University.
In the final, Kebbe proved herself to the North Star Cougars and any other doubters or unknowing types that may have witnessed her 21 point, 7 rebound, 10-12 Field Goal performance. Kebbe looked as if she was a woman against girls on the floor Friday afternoon working inside and out, running the floor, handling the ball and, in general, doing it all.
As for the game flow, this one was over relatively quick. The Saints scored the game’s first eight points of the game on four straight made layups with little resistance. Even then the Cougars still hung in early trailing by six at the end of one, 16-10. That was it though, the Saints turned up the pressure, forced 17 first half turnovers, scoring 21 points off of those Cougar turnovers leading to a 27-5 run in the second quarter to stoke the Saints to an insurmountable 43-15 lead.
The second half was just a prelude to victory for a dominant Neumann-Goretti team that had three players in double figures: Kebbe had a monster game with 21 points and 7 rebounds and she was an astonishing 10 of 12 from the field. Junior Chyna Nixon dropped 14 and was unstoppable going to the basket. Kamiah Smalls added 11 more along with four steals, while fellow senior Morgan Lenahan chipped in 10 points. Sophomore Jabria Ingram pilfered 8 errant basketballs and added 8 points for the Saints.
Courtney Schrock had 14 points for North Star High while Jackie Stank added 9 points, 7 rebounds while collecting her 1000th point midway through the fourth quarter.
“That was pretty dominating. But it’s kind of bittersweet. We get in the locker room and the first thing we hear is, hey, no practice tomorrow” Peterson said after the game. “So it’s sad and it’s so emotional because we’ve been working with these seniors for the last three or four years. They’re like our own kids. So it’s great to go out on top for them. They wore that uniform proudly. We set out to do one thing; this was our big goal. They wanted this. And you could tell.”
With the victory the Saints are 59-1 under Peterson’s tutelage in two seasons as head coach of the Saints.
PIAA CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Archbishop Wood Vikings 46 – Villa Maria Victors 29
This year’s PIAA class AAA title game was anticipated as the best potential match-up of the weekend. Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) has been ranked number one all season and Villa Maria (Erie, Pa.) has maintained the two spot most of the second half of the season after being ranked 10th at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign.
Each team entered Saturday evening’s affair with impressive resumes.
Archbishop Wood has the distinction of knocking off Class AA champion, Neumann-Goretti 40-36 in the Philadelphia Catholic League title game back on February 22nd, the only team to have done that all season. After back-to-back championship losses the past two seasons, the Vikings led by Drexel recruit Bailey Greenberg, were looking to exercise some of the ghosts of championship games past Saturday night.
The District 10 champ, Villa Maria took the Giant Center floor with a perfect record of 29-0 on the line. The Victors move the ball well, they run college level stuff offensively and play solid defense. Villa Maria is led by three seniors headed for Division I programs next fall. Those standouts include 5-10 guard, Sarah Agnello- Lafayette, 5-6 guard, Anna Sweny- Canisius, 5-11 forward, Jennifer Oduho- Youngstown State.
The game started slowly while both sides struggled from the floor. The Victors were doing their thing offensively, but missing a lot of shots, but led by Agnello who had 6 first quarter points Villa Maria was on its way to an 8-5 lead at the end of one.
In the second, Archbishop Wood made some adjustments that really frustrated Agnello and the rest of the Victors’ offense. The Vikings defense got aggressive, too aggressive for Victors’ coach Doug Chuzie, as he picked up a technical foul before halftime.
Chuzie saw immediately what was happening, but couldn’t seem to stop it.
“His (Wood coach Mike McDonald) game plan was really good, taking the ball out of Sweny’s hands and making us make decisions from there. I thought early in the first quarter we were able to run some of our stuff and we got some good looks. But he made the decision at the start of the second quarter that they weren’t going to let us run our stuff, and they were going to run and jump at every chance. That’s something we prepared for. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute and we didn’t knock down some shots when we needed to or like we usually do. But that’s a credit to them. That’s a darn good basketball team.”
The combination of forcing 11 first half turnovers and scoring 10 points off of those miscues along with Villa shooting only 4 of 23 (17%) from the field, the Vikings were able to erase the Victors’ first quarter advantage and take a 21-16 halftime lead into the locker room. Junior guard, Shannon May led Wood with 8 points in the first half.
Archbishop Wood’s defense tightened even more in the third quarter, two baskets by Sarah Agnello and Madison Demski were the only points the Victors would score in the quarter. The beginning of the end came with eight seconds to go in the third when Agnello, the Victors’ only real scoring threat on this day, fouled out. Villa Maria was on the ropes and the Vikings run-and-jump, pressure defense was looking to end this one early.
Archbishop Wood went for the knockout early in the fourth quarter. Bailey Greenberg hit a jump-shot on the Vikings’ first trip, and when the 5-11 forward slashed baseline and scored, Archbishop Wood led 31-21 with 6:56 to go.
Julia Casella pulled Villa Maria off the ropes momentarily with a three, but Shannon May and Kate Connolly hit back-to-back long balls for Wood, to put the Victors down on the canvass again, 37-24, with 3:59 to go.
One more time Demski hit a three to cut the Vikings’ lead to 10. The Victors’ knees were buckled for the final time as Greenberg, Claire Bassetti and Connolly made seven free throws between them to finish off Villa Maria for good.
Archbishop Wood, the Philadelphia Catholic League and District 12 champions, had their fourth state championship with a convincing 46-29 victory over Villa Maria.
Wood’s defense was smothering holding Villa Maria to a measly 8 of 40 field goals (20%). Bailey Greenberg led the way with 14 points and 13 for the Vikings, who excised those past demons right out of the Giant Center forever.
Sarah Agnello led all Victor scorers with 11 points and 4 steals, who lost for only the first time all season. They finished with a 29-1 record and a solid number two ranking in the state.
PIAA CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Cumberland Valley Eagles 57 – Cardinal O’Hara Lions 34
When this one tipped Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) looked as if they felt right at home, and they should. Hershey has become sort of a home away from home to the Eagles. Including tonight’s game, the Eagles have played in the last four PIAA Class 4A championship games under the bright lights of the Giant Center floor. Senior Kelly Jekot has been in all of those games so it makes sense that she would be the most comfortable out there.
Cumberland Valley has three NCAA Division I prospects on their current roster including Jekot, a Villanova signee. Morgan Baughman- Niagara (signed) and Katie Jekot- St. Joseph’s (commit) have made decisions as well.
Obviously the CV is a talented group, but it takes more than just talent to get you to the final game. For the Eagles, luck played co-starring role in their championship drama. Tuesday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse the Eagles were down one, 42-41 to North Allegheny (Wexford Pa.), a veteran team from outside of Pittsburgh. Cumberland Valley was 1.8 seconds away from losing the semi-final game and a shot at their Three-Peat but capitalized on a inexplicable backcourt foul to advance to Hershey and a match up with 26 – 3 Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.).
The young Lions made their first trip to the Giant Center with losses to Goretti, Wood and Delaware State Champions, Ursuline Academy. Despite a roster of all underclassmen, there is plenty of talent to go around. That talent was on display early with junior point guard, Hannah Nihill, junior small forward, Mary Sheehan and sophomore guard, Kenzie Gardler, all Division I commits, who all had first-quarter three pointers and the Lions were able to stay with the Eagles trailing after one, 15-12.
The Giant Center roof seemed to be collapsing on the Lions as the second period began. The Eagles methodically dismantled Cardinal O’Hara thanks to Kelly Jekot’s 16 first half points, and a 15-5 second-quarter run that put Cumberland Valley up 30-17 at the end of the half.
The second half was more of the same with the Eagles getting production from everywhere. Junior Addison Kirkpatrick, a 6-0 forward, was too much on the boards for the smaller Lions. She pulled down 10 rebounds and posted 12 points. Katie Jekot, a junior guard that starts alongside of her senior sister, chipped in 7 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and was a shut-down defender on both Nihill and Gardler.
As for the elder Jekot, this game was played as if she was going through her daily routine. She treated the game with the Lions as a stellar career wrapping checklist. Let’s see…28 Points…check…7 Rebounds…check…4 Assists…check! The two time Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year and 2000-point career scorer was also 4 of 4 from the three-point line…checkmate.
When the final buzzer sounded Friday night, Cumberland Valley had its Three-Peat: a third PIAA Class AAAA girls’ basketball championship in a row with a 57-34 victory over Cardinal O’Hara.
Of her Cumberland Valley experience, Kelly Jekot said; “If I had to put it all into one word, I’d use the word thankful. I’m thankful for all the opportunities I’ve gotten at Cumberland Valley. I have a bunch of friends that support me. I have a great coaching staff that I wouldn’t trade for anyone. Obviously my sister is on the team, and I’ll always share these memories with her. We had some ups and downs this season, but we worked through it, and for that I’m very proud. I’m just very thankful for everything.”
The Eagle’s rebounding (38-15) along with Jekot’s numbers were the defining differences in the game.
Cumberland Valley shot a comfortable 22 of 42 (52%) from the field, including 7 of 11 from way downtown. O’Hara shot just 11 of 38 from the field (29%) and 3 of 12 from deep. Gardler, another Villanova commit, had 11 points, and Nihill, a Drexel commit, added 10 points for O’Hara. Sheehan, bound for St. Joe’s, scored another eight points for the Lions.
