Four in Valley prep for home start
From Page 1
It’s time to go dancing as four Lehigh Valley girls basketball teams begin PIAA tournament play this week.
District 11 Class 6A champion Nazareth has a bye into the quarterfinal round while 5A champ Bethlehem Catholic, 4A champ Central Catholic and 3A champ Notre Dame all have first-round games on their home court.
Only the champions in each classification of districts were invited to the tournament in this season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic had their state runs stopped after two PIAA victories last season when the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.
3A matchup
District 1 St. Basil Academy (13-2) at Notre Dame (13-4), 7 p.m. Tuesday: St. Basil’s nine seniors have won every Catholic Academies Conference championship in their time. Gwynedd Mercy Academy is the only team to beat them in conference play in four years — twice this season to break their 46-game conference winning streak — before the Panthers came back in the conference title game to beat GMA 44-43 in overtime.
Notre Dame also saw a lengthy league regular-season league winning streak — 45-games — come to an end this season as well. St. Basil beat the Crusaders 55-24 in a subregional district game in 2018 and 45-42 in 2013, which is the last time the Crusaders won two games to reach the quarterfinals.
Denae Carter, a 1,000-point career scorer and Mississippi State recruit, leads a very balanced Panther squad. This could be the program’s last
game ever as the school will close after this school year.
Notre Dame is coming off a District 11 title-game victory over Colonial League rival Palmerton, 48-35, behind a season-high 20 points from junior guard Raegan Cooper. The winner plays District 3 Trinity (21-1) in the quarterfinals on Friday at a time and site to be determined.
Notre Dame’s PIAA history: 19th appearance, 18-18 overall, 12-6 1st rd., 6-6 2nd rd., 0-6 quarterfinal.
6A matchup
District 12 champion at Nazareth (15-1) at TBD on Friday: The Blue Eagles finally got past the first round for the first time in six consecutive tries last season and then won two games for the first time in school history. The entire roster returned this season and the Blue Eagles have lost just one game all season, 53-41, to Northampton.
Talya Brugler and Kelly Leszcynski carried the Blue Eagles offensively in a 39-29 victory over Parkland for the District 11 championship with 16 and 14 points respectively while combining for Nazareth’s first 20 points of the second half.
The District 12 champ has not been decided yet. The winner plays in the semifinals on March 22 against the District 1 champion who will be crowned on Friday.
Nazareth’s PIAA history: 12th appearance 4-10 overall, 3-8 1st rd., 1-2 2nd rd.
5A matchup
District 4 Shikellamy (5-12) at Bethlehem Catholic (8-7) at 5 p.m. Wednesday: Becahi moved up a class to 5A where they had all they could handle in a 46-39 victory over Bangor to win the program’s 12th district title, fifth in a row and eighth in the last nine seasons. The Golden Hawks won state titles in 2017 and 2019 but had just two players returning this season with any kind of varsity experience, junior guards Kourtney Wilson and Keyara Walters.
The Lady Braves lost nine of their previous 10 games before beating Sellinsgrove 32-30 for the District 4 title. The winner plays District 12 power and undefeated Cardinal O’Hara (14-0) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a time and site to be determined.
Bethlehem Catholic’s PIAA history: 16th appearance, 35-12 overall, 15-0 1st rd., 9-6 2nd rd., 5-3 quarterfinal, 4-1 semifinal, 2-2 final.
4A matchup
District 1 Gwynedd Mercy Academy (13-2) at Central Catholic (15-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday: The balanced Vikettes are playing team basketball at its highest level as they approach the state playoffs following a 41-36 win over upstart Jim Thorpe thanks in part to Emily Vaughan’s clutch 3-pointer in the final minute. It was the program’s 23rd District 11 title and first in nine seasons.
Gwynedd Mercy Academy defeated New Hope-Solebury 43-28 in the District 1 title game. Kaylie Griffin and Julia Masterson, a pair of 5-foot-6, lead the Monarchs. The winner plays the District 12 champ in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a time and site to be determined.
Central Catholic’ PIAA history: 39th appearance, 79-31 overall, 28-10 1st rd., 19-8 2nd rd., 14-6 quarterfinal, 11-3 semifinal, 7-4 final.