Quaker Valley girls’ defensive effort rewarded with playoff win

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, February 23, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

The Quaker Valley girls basketball team is a resilient group.

The seventh-seed Quakers displayed their adaptability Feb. 14 against No. 10 McGuffey in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A basketball playoffs.

QV defeated the visiting Highlanders, 39-35, to advance to a quarterfinal matchup Feb. 17 against No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic.

After starting out 3-6 this season, the Quakers showed their ability to bounce back by then going 12-2 with seven consecutive wins and took a 15-8 record into their game with GCC.

QV coach Ken Johns said his team made some halftime adjustments against McGuffey after trailing 22-19 at the break.

“We fought through some adversity in the first half,” Johns said, “with McGuffey making shots while we weren’t making ones that we typically do. We made some adjustments, and our kids responded very well. Their response and fight were great. I’m very happy for the team.

“McGuffey hit some shots early on, and we knew they could do that. I thought we defended well in the first half; they just made some tough shots. In the second half, our defense stepped up and made it a little tougher on them.”

The Quakers were not able to dent the scoreboard until the 3:29 mark of the first quarter and trailed 13-6 after eight minutes.

“We turned the ball over early and missed a number of shots early in the game,” Johns said. “Some of that could have been nerves, some of it was McGuffey. They have five seniors, and they are well-coached. I thought they really played well and executed their game plan well throughout the game.”

The Quakers were led in the contest by their all-everything junior guard/forward Mimi Thiero, who tossed in a game-high 25 points to go with her 13 rebounds, three assists, six steals and four blocks.

“All of which were big for us,” Johns said. “Mimi did what Mimi does; she played a solid all-around game. Scoring 25 in a low-scoring game like that is huge, especially when we didn’t shoot the ball well as a team.”

The 6-foot-5 Thiero, the fourth-leading scorer in the WPIAL, connected for 13 points in the game’s second half after cashing in for 12 in the first half.

“I think we performed pretty well,” she said. “I think we did what we needed to do on defense and came out with the win.

“After halftime, we just executed our strategies better. We started to adapt to the pace of the game.”

Two other QV hoopsters instrumental in the victory were sophomore guard Rose Cline and junior guard Lucy Roig.

“As a team, we faced some challenges,” Cline said, “but we worked together to overcome them and play the way we know how to play.

“After the first half, we tried a different defense that we don’t always do in games. It worked really well.”

Cline sparked the Quakers off the bench with seven points, including two free throws that knotted the score at 27-27 in the third quarter.

“Rose made a few big shots that really helped out,” Johns said. “She made our lone 3-pointer of the game and hit some big free throws.”

Roig didn’t score a point but her presence definitely was felt by the visitors. She finished with three steals.

“Lucy had some plays for us defensively that might not show up on the stat sheet but were big, game-winning plays,” Johns said. “Steals, deflections, getting to loose balls — she really had a big impact, especially late.”

Tough, hard-nosed defense, generated by Roig, freshman forward Leasia Karto and sophomore guard Anna Campbell, proved to be a catalyst for QV — particularly in the second half.

“Leasia continued to do a great job on defense and in rebounding,” Johns said. “She had seven rebounds, three of them on the offensive end, and I think they all led to baskets. Again, game-winning plays.

“Anna played really good defense throughout the game and did a good job of containing their leading scorer.”

Sophomore forward Annabel Miko provided the Quakers with their first lead of the night off a steal with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter. The home team never trailed again.

“We switched our defense up a few times in the second half, and it was something we haven’t showed a lot in prior games,” Johns said. “It was really effective in keeping them out of what they like to do.

“We were able to maintain our defensive effort for the entire second half. That was the key.”

Thiero, Karto and Cline did all the scoring the home side needed in the final eight minutes.

Miko and Keira Watson, a freshman guard, finished with two steals apiece in the game. Karto had one.

QV missed out on a playoff berth last year but advanced to the WPIAL semifinals in 2022-23 — Thiero’s freshman season — and went on to the PIAA playoffs.

The Quakers finished 17-9 overall with a starting lineup consisting of three seniors— Nora Johns, Shannon Von Kaenel and Maria Helkowski — and two freshmen — Thiero and Zora Washington.

“We lost a close one to perennial power Blackhawk in the WPIAL semifinals,” said QV’s coach.

Tags: Quaker Valley