Driscoll reaches 1,000 points as ACCHS wins title
Up until Wednesday night’s District 11 4A girls basketball championship at Pottsville’s Martz Hall, it hadn’t been the best or most memorable season of Molly Driscoll’s basketball career.
Two separate injuries forced the Allentown Central Catholic senior to miss a large chunk of time in the regular season and wait until the district championship to finally eclipse 1,000 points in her illustrious career.
With a gold medal draped around her neck following the Vikettes’ 55-46 victory over Blue Mountain, Driscoll said she wouldn’t change anything about the painful road to the promised land.
“Missing 11 games made me appreciate the game more and appreciate being able to play,” she said. “I’m very thankful.”
The American University women’s basketball commit needed just 10 points entering the contest to reach the 1,000point milestone and wasted no time doing so with a brilliant first quarter that opened up a 10-point lead for her team.
“The mindset was just to go, go, go,” Driscoll said of her team’s quick start. “This is our last opportunity to be able to play together so we want to make the most of it.”
Blue Mountain showed an impressive amount of resilience at the beginning of the second quarter, which was just an appetizer for what would come later, with a 7-0 run that forced a timeout by ACCHS coach Kathy Davidowich.
Her team responded to the challenge with a major run of their own behind a terrific steal and score by senior Sammy Roth, back-to-back layups by senior Armani Brickhouse and five straight points from junior Milly Wolf to push the lead back to 31-17.
Those three starters, along with Driscoll and senior Abbey Kofroth, accounted for all 55 of the team’s points and showed the importance of the chemistry that forms from a lifetime of playing together.
“Most of them have been playing together since fifth grade and this is their moment,” Davidowich said. “I told them they were going to win or lose with this group. You put it in the hands of the girls with the most experience, so I’m just happy for all of them.”
Roth is one of those girls who is starting to play her best in the biggest moments for the Vikettes. She credits an unwavering level of support from her coach and some terrific fans for her ability to thrive in these types of games.
“I think we always play on a big stage because of a big fanbase and these moments are what you work for and prepare for,” she said. “Coach Davidowich never gives up on us and she has confidence in me, so that gives me confidence in myself.”
It looked as if Davidowich’s group would cruise to their second consecutive district championship as Roth came out firing in the third quarter with a straightaway 3-pointer, a steal that led to an easy layup for Driscoll and a pair of free throws that helped stretch the lead to 42-23.
But Blue Mountain simply wouldn’t go away and battled back with an even larger run to send Martz Hall into rapture for the rest of the night’s contest.
Sophomore guard Hailey Place, who hadn’t scored up until this point, went on a personal 9-0 run into the fourth quarter to force an ACCHS timeout with the lead back down to 10.
The Eagles came out of that timeout even stronger with a great feed from Makayla Keck to Kylie Conway, an old-fashioned 3-point play by Emily Heydt and a 30-footer from Place to cap off a 17-0 run that cut the lead to just two.
That’s when Driscoll knew it was time to take over.
“I noticed that they had momentum, and I knew we had to get it back,” she said. “Preparation met opportunity, so I was able to capitalize.”
Her play was as cool and composed as that response.
She found space on the following possession to her stronger right side and threw up a layup that found the bottom of the net as she was fouled to make it 45-40 with four minutes remaining. After a missed shot at the other end, Driscoll took the ball in transition and pulled up at the free-throw line to force a timeout by the Eagles and kill every ounce of momentum they accumulated.
Her next few plays were far more impressive than any 1,000-point milestone and ensured her team would be going home with gold rather than silver medals.
After Conway made a 3-pointer at the other end, Driscoll not only stopped a fastbreak for the Eagles but saved the possession as well by diving to the floor to poke it to Brickhouse. The senior got up, collected herself and drilled a dagger midrange jumper to deflate the entire Blue Mountain team.
She followed this up by leaping for an errant inbounds pass with 1:30 remaining, which led to the free throws that put the championship game on ice. These kinds of plays are what Davidowich has come to expect of her D-I guard.
“As I’ve always said about her, she’s just the hardest working [player],” Davidowich said. “You can see she’s healthy again and I’m just so happy for her.”
Driscoll finished with a game-high 21 points, including seven straight in the fourth quarter, to secure the third district championship and fourth overall title for the six seniors on the team.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to win this with the seniors,” Driscoll said. “To be able to win this one in our last run is pretty awesome.”
Up next
Allentown Central Catholic (17-9) will host either Bishop McDevitt or Northern Lebanon in the first round of the PIAA 4A State Tournament on Saturday, March 9 at a time to be determined.
Blue Mountain (22-5) will face the third-place finisher from District 12 at a site and time to be determined.