Victory puts O’Hara’s name in (police) lights

HERSHEY » Long before the PIAA Class 5A championship game began Saturday, the Cardinal O’Hara girls had a sense that they would make history.

The bus ride to the Giant Center was so full of energy, Sydni Scott showing her teammates a cool dance, they figured something remarkable and historical was next. Voila, the Lions recorded the school’s first state title in basketball.

“The bus ride, we just kept telling ourselves that we’ve got it,” said Scott, who scored a game-high 16 points. “Just bring energy, talk and play hard. Oh, and I fell. The bus driver hit the brakes mid-ride and I fell. But I feel fine.”

The same could be said of the Lions, who on the way to a 51-27 victory, held Chartiers Valley to a season-low 27 points.

Maggie Doogan contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for the Lions. Siobhan Boylan added 10 points, Annie

Welde seven boards.

The Lions are the first Delaware County team to win a state title since Archbishop Carroll in 2012. They’re also just the fourth Delco girls team to win a state championship, joining 2A DarbyColwyn (now Penn Wood) in 1976, 3A Nether Providence (now Strath Haven) in 1983 and 3A Carroll in 2009. The 2012 Carroll team won the 4A championship.

The Lions’ effort was deserving of a police escort, and that’s just what a member of the O’Hara traveling party arranged with Marple Police. The Marple PD was slated to guide the Lions’ bus and entourage back to the campus on Sproul Road with lights flashing, sirens blaring, once it reached the Route 3, West Chester Pike exit going south on I-476. A Blue Route indeed. Add the sendoff while the Lions walked to the bus for the trip to Hershey and you have a day the players will share forever.

“The band played, and a bunch of parents were there,” Doogan said. “The escort, that’s crazy. This is so much fun.”