PIAA Girls AAA, AA and A Championship Basketball Recaps

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, March 25, 2011 | 12:00 AM

While the WPIAL has five teams, Mount Lebanon, Montour, Greensburg Central Catholic and Lincoln Park boys along with Mount Lebanon girls too a shot at state gold this weekend at Penn State University, there were three other state title games being played at the Bryce Jordan Center. Thus we have the recaps of the Girls Class AA, Girls Class A and Girls Class AAA PIAA championship contests.

VILLA MARIA ACADEMY VICTORS 62 – DUNMORE BUCKS 39
And the gold rush continues for the Class AA District 10 champion Victors. Villa Maria cruised to a third straight PIHL girls basketball crown with a 23 point victory over the District 2 champion Bucks Friday afternoon at Penn State University. VMA led only 7-6 after one quarter, but the Victors used a suffocating defense in the second quarter to outscore the Bucks 16-1 and take a commading 23-7 lead to the locker room at halftime. Villa Maria was never challenged in the second half as they increased their lead to as many as 20 points late in the third quarter before ending up with a 40-22 lead after three. The closest Dunmore could get the rest of the way was when the Bucks pulled to within 17 points early in the fourth quarter before the Victors pulled away. Villa Maria ends their impressive season with a 28-2 record while Dunmore falls to 26-6.

STEELTON HIGHSPIRE STEAMROLLERS 73 – BISHOP GUILFOYLE LADY MARAUDERS 60
In the best played game of the weekend thus far, the Steelton-Highspire Rollers ended the reign of the Bishop Guilfoyle Lady Marauders with the victory in the Girls Class A title game on Saturday. It's the first ever girls title for Steel-High in their first trip to the big stage. Bishop Guilfoyle had loved the move to Penn State, making their fourth trip in the last five years, with titles in 2007 and back to back titles in 2009 and 2010 but were no match to a Steel High team that they defeated in the first game of the season 56-46. Steel High destroyed Bishop Guilfoyle on the boards, winning that battle 49-33. The Rollers placed four players in double figures,sophomore Malia Tate-DeFreitas led with 19 points and dished out 8 assists, senior Jessika Williams playing in just her second game back after breaking her ankle on January 11th, added 14 points off the bench, going four of five from behind the arc. Sophomore Jazmine Blanding added 13 and senior Janelle Hill scored 12. The Rollers took a 19-12 lead after one quarter, as the Lady Marauders went the final two-plus minutes without a field goal. Tate-DeFreitas scoring 10 points in the period, with 12 of the 19 points coming off second chances. Steelton-Highspire extended the lead in the second, helped by two long NBA length three pointers by Blanding and a corner trey by Williams to 40-29 at the break. Steel High maintained the lead in the third quarter, up by as many as 15, and led 51-39 at the conclusion of the period. Bishop Guilfoyle made a run to start the fourth, the five point surge made it 51-44 with 6:15 remaining, but three pointers by Williams and Blanding and a three point play by Hill made it a 16 point lead for the Rollers with 3:29 left. The District 3 champions also got 7 points and 12 rebounds from senior Cinnamon Brown, the Rollers finish 27-4 on the season and eight consecutive wins. Steel High shot 26 of 64 for the game and 8 of 18 from behind the arc. Bishop Guilfoyle saw their 19 game winning streak come to an end, it's the first loss to a Class A team for the Lady Marauders since 2008 in the PIAA quarterfinals. Sophomore Halee Adams was outstanding once again, leading all scorers with 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds, two other sophomores reached double figures, Elyssa Ehredt scored 12 points and pulled down ten rebounds and Kayla Bates added 11. Bishop Guilfoyle shot 20 of 56 from the field but only 2 of 10 from three point range.

ARCHBISHOP WOOD VIKINGS 53 – MERCYHURST PREP LAKERS 41
The District 12 champion Vikings claimed back to back Class AAA titles with the victory at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday night. Archbishop Wood outscored Mercyhurst Prep 21-8 in the final quarter to claim the gold. Christine Verrelle led the Vikings with 16 points, including a perfect 10 for 10 at the line. Mercyhurst Prep led 12-10 after one quarter, neither team could manage more than a four point lead in the opening stanza. The Lakers went on a short run in the second, going up five on a Kayla Wilwohl three pointer at the media timeout and a Brenna Robbins bucket made it 22-15, but three pointers by Lauren Nealon and two from Stephanie Keys gave the Vikings their first lead of the second quarter with 31 seconds left in the half. Ally Burke hit a jumper in the lane at the buzzer to tie the score at 24 at the half. Again, neither team could take more than a four point lead in the third quarter, Wilwohl scored on a bucket and one with 43 seconds left in the quarter to go up 33-31, but the Vikings came back with Victoria Arnao being fouled at the buzzer, she made one of two, allowing the Lakers to keep a one point lead heading to the fourth. It would be all Archbishop Wood in the fourth, as the Vikings went on a 13-0 run to start the quarter, keyed by two steals by Verrelle. Mercyhurst Prep went 6:55 without a field goal, becoming the third Western representative to go on a stretch of over five minutes without a bucket. Keys added 13 points with three 3 pointers, Verrelle dished out 4 assists, Arnao grabbed 11 rebounds, the Vikings shot 15 of 44 from the field and 19 of 28 from the line. Archbishop Wood finishes the season 27-4 and an 11 game winning streak. The District 10 champions end the season at 27-3, suffering their first loss to a Pennsylvania team, Mercyhurst Prep had won 24 straight games. The Lakers were led by Burke and Wilwohl, each with 17 points. Mercyhurst Prep committed 19 turnovers to Archbishop Wood's 13, the Vikings won the battle of the boards 34-26.

Tags: Bishop Guilfoyle, Mercyhurst Prep