Samar lifts Villa into Class AAA semifinals

HUNTINGDON VALLEY >> For three quarters it was a relatively below average showing from Villa Maria freshman Julia Samar. She had 3 points on 1-for-5 shooting, hadn’t been able to get much of anything going, and even worse, her team had been losing for almost the entire time. That was, until she decided to completely take over the game.

“She (Samar) is just a freshman and never played in a district playoff game before, how about that?” said Villa Maria head coach Kathy McCartney. “She was just hitting every shot they gave her. She was open, we set the screen for her, they were going underneath and she had the shot so I told her to take them.”

Samar scored an incredible 13 points in the final quarter, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and most importantly, hitting the game winning layup as time expired to lift VillaMaria over LowerMoreland, 46-44, in the second round of the District 1 Class AAA playoffs.

Next up for Villa is a matchup against familiar foe Merion Mercy in the semifinals at Harriton on Tuesday for the right to play in the district championship game.

“I was shaking the entire game,” said Samar when asked if she was nervous about her first playoff game. “After you startmaking a few the confidence level goes up and you start to settle down and that’s what happened forme late.”

If she was shaking in the fourth, she didn’t show it.

After Lower Moreland senior Lauren Killion hit a huge three with 10 seconds left to tie the game at 44, Villa called a timeout to get a play called, and they called Samar’s number.

She inbounded the ball, got it back from her teammate, made a quick crossover on Killion and got to the hoop just as time expired.

“I threw the the ball in and then got it right back, one on one, and I was able to just take the ball to the basket,” said Samar. “Especially going to my right hand I knew (it was going in).”

The gamewas a battle for the entire 32 minutes, and one that it didn’t always look like Villa would have a chance to win.

Following a fairly even first quarter that saw Lower Moreland pull to a 16-13 lead, Villa fell flat in the second, onlymanaging to tally three points as they found themselves trailing 27-16 at half.

“We just put ourselves in such a hole at halftime with that second quarter,” said McCartney. “We told ourselves, cut it in half by the end of the third quarter and give yourself a chance to win it in the fourth, and we did that.”

Thirteen points is an outstanding performance, but what stands outmost is the magnitude of the shots Samar was able to hit with her team facing elimination.

In the fourth quarter she hit 3-pointers to tie it 36-36, another to tie it 4141, and then one more to put them ahead 44-41 and that’s without mentioning her buzzer beater.

“At this time of year you’re not a freshman anymore,” saidMcCartney with a smile on her face. “Everybody has to step up and you saw that tonight, unbelievable.”

This loss will sting for a while for the Lions. Not only were they leading for most of the game, but they had their own star player lighting up the stat sheet, looking poised to carry them to the next round.

Lauren Millan was outstanding for them, tallying a game-high 22 points, including 15 in the first half, but she just couldn’t keep up with Samar in the fourth.

“You saw in the second they started to double her (Millan) whenever she got it,” said Lower Moreland head coach Rich Becker “and they should have been doubling her. We told her before the game shewas going to be the best player on the floor and you saw that in the first half and they just started rolling their defense to her in the second half.”

Scoring wasn’t the only problemfor them. VillaMaria played amuchmore fast paced and hectic style than what Lower Moreland is used to, and it caused them to give up the ball in crucial situations, which was especially harmful as they tried to protect the lead.

“One of the concerns I had coming in was they had a deeper bench and they play in that Catholic League that is justmore uptempo,” said Becker. “That was my concern coming in, and I think you saw that tonight and it contributed to themgetting some of those loose balls and causing turnovers.”