Pope John Paul II survives Villa Joseph Marie’s late push to advance
HOLLAND >> The outcome was never in question.
At least not in Gabby Troisi’s mind.
Even as Pope John Paul II saw its 12-point lead evaporate midway through the fourth quarter, the senior says her team never lost its composure.
“We had a lot of confidence about this one,” she said, “even in the fourth quarter. We really needed to settle down and take care of the ball.”
In the end, the Golden Panthers settled down and regained their composure, finding a way to hold off their host No. 4 Villa Joseph Marie 52-48 on Friday night. Coming in as the No. 5 seed, PJP secured a District 1-AAA quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seeded Gwynedd Mercy on Tuesday.
“That’s district basketball,” said first-year Pope John Paul II head coach Liz Bernstein. “They (Villa Joseph Marie) made a run at us late. Still, we kept our composure and hung on for the win. It’s going to be extremely important to keep our composure if we want to advance in districts.
“We’ve got to understand the importance of every possession in every game. All of the teams we face are going to bring everything they’ve got. So we really can’t take anything for granted.”
Troisi tied for a game-high 21 points, including a layup with under a minute to go to break a 48-48 tie. Guard Rachel Yerger scored 13 points, and nailed a pair of threes in the first quarter while Stephanie Petery scored 10 points, including a huge bucket to swing a three-point play during the fourth quarter. She also hauled in seven rebounds.
Pope John Paul II held a 38-26 advantage entering the fourth quarter before Villa Jo’s Emily Keehfuss got it going. The freshman scored 13 of her team-high 21 points in the final quarter and knocked down three 3-pointers on the night.
Teammate Marisa Morano added 15 points and finished a clean 7-for-7 at the free throw line while Julia Hagan added seven points.
First-year Jems head coach Maria Morano described it as a true No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup.
“Our press defense caused a lot of turnovers in the fourth quarter,” she said. “We weren’t letting their (PJP’s) offense bring the ball down court and get settled. We were causing turnovers and forcing bad looks at the basket.”
Although Villa seemed to run the press defense effectively, Morano admits it wasn’t a usual part of their repertoire this season.
“All season, we used our size in the paint to our advantage,” she said. “That’s mostly been our game. We’ve got the shooters who can spread the floor, and then the bigs who can secure the boards down low.”
Only on this night, the Jems didn’t have that similar domination on the boards. Mixed in with Petery’s seven boards, PJP narrowly outrebounded Villa 20-17.
“We knew what to expect and we were prepared for it,” said Petery. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy — they were going to put up a fight. Fortunately for us, we crashed the boards well and made some big plays when we really needed them.”
Outside of the paint, Yerger controlled the floor for the majority of the night. The scrappy junior guard secured six boards and made the Jems second-guess plenty of their passing decisions with her defense. Midway through the second, she picked off an errant pass and took it all the way to the basket with a defender clinging to her back.
“She does a lot of great things for us,” said Bernstein. “Over the course of the season, she’s evolved into a tremendous leader. When she’s on, she’s on. She knows that she has the green-light when she’s on, and that sets the tone for us.”
Now the Golden Panthers shift their focus to Gwynedd Mercy, the only team standing in their way of their second consecutive PIAA-AAA playoff appearance.
Although their quarterfinal opponent has only suffered four losses on the season, the Golden Panthers are looking to stay focused on their game and keeping the momentum rolling into Tuesday.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence right now,” said Troisi. “I know that our team wants to move on and keep playing together. We’ve got to play like we really want it.”
