State Gold for the VA Royals

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 22, 2014 | 6:46 PM

The second trip was the charm for Ron Moncrief and the Vincentian Academy Royals. Vincentian fell to Tri-Valley 59-42 in the return for PIAA basketball at the Giant Center last year, but the Royals finished 2014 in a big way, beating Old Forge 58-34 to win the second PIAA girls basketball championship in school history.

Junior Brenna Wise dominated the first quarter, scoring 12 of her game-high 21 points in the first eight minutes. Wise hit a three late in the quarter that put Vincentian Academy up 18-9 after one. Vincentian Academy led 27-10 but some sloppy play and fouls led to 6 straight free throws for the Blue Devils and a 27-16 deficit at the break.

The Royals pulled away for good in the third, Maia Joiner nailed back to back threes, then Kayla Key took after, with 6 of 8 points coming on consecutive baskets. The Royals led 47-27 at the end of the quarter and hit the gas in the fourth for the win.

Wise added 11 rebounds and nailed a pair of threes in the first to her cause. She also had 5 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals for an all-around game. Joiner scored 11 points. Key dished out 3 assists. Kiersten Elliott scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Vincentian Academy was 22 of 50 for the game at 44 percent with 5 three-pointers. The Royals were just 9 of 19 from the foul line and only committed 8 turnovers. Vincentian Academy ends the season at 27-3, winning their last 11 games. The Royals may be a prohibitive favorite to repeat both as WPIAL and PIAA champions with Wise, Torrieonna Cash, Joiner, Elliott, Sarah Marusic and Julia Galbraith all returning.

Old Forge was led by Lauren Carey with 18 points, she grabbed 5 rebounds. Taylor Nemetz scored 8 points and had 8 boards. The Blue Devils were 10 of 38 from the field for 26 percent, including 1 of 14 from behind the arc. Old Forge was 13 of 18 from the charity stripe with 15 turnovers. The District 2 champions finish the season at 24-4.

Score by Quarters:
Vincentian Academy Royals : 18 – 9 – 20 – 11 = 58
Old Forge Blue Devils : 9 – 7  – 11 – 7 = 34

Tags: Vincentian Academy