Quigley Catholic girls oust St. Joseph in quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 23, 2018 | 11:03 PM

When Alex Jones' 3-point attempt swished as time expired in the third quarter to give St. Joseph a one-point lead, it capped a frame in which the team connected seven times from beyond the arc and erased a 10-point deficit.

St. Joseph found itself with momentum squarely in its favor, but on the other side of the court was a Quigley Catholic team set on avenging last season's playoff loss.

And Quigley responded with a strong performance in the fourth.

Third-seeded Quigley scored 30 points in the final frame and pulled away for a 73-62 victory over No. 6 St. Joseph in WPIAL Class A girls basketball quarterfinal Friday at Butler.

Quigley (15-8), which fell 69-65 to St. Joseph in the quarterfinals last year, advanced to play No. 2 West Greene in the semifinals Tuesday at a time and site to be determined. St. Joseph (14-10) had a three-game winning streak in the overall series snapped and fell to 1-4 in the postseason against Quigley since 2013.

“We've been battling with (St. Joseph) over the years, and it's been back and forth,” Quigley coach Bill Del Tondo said. “When we played them earlier in the year (a 73-70 St. Joseph win Jan. 17) we thought we did well, but we didn't finish the game. We told the girls today that we had to finish the game, and I think they did that.”

A layup by Marisa Metropoulos gave Quigley a 59-58 lead with a little over two and a half minutes remaining and it never trailed again. After a steal on the next possession, Taylor Kirschner was fouled while making a layup and converted the free throw to push the lead to five.

Kirschner and Ashley Mineard combined to go 6 for 6 at the free throw line in the final minute to put the game away. Quigley was 13 of 14 from the free throw line in the fourth. Kirschner finished with 25 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter. Mineard, who was the only player for Quigley to come off the bench, scored 15 points, 10 in the fourth.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.