Bishop Shanahan comes up big, downs Pottsgrove in district opener

DOWNINGTOWN >> During the pregame warmups, members of the Pottsgrove girls basketball team were forced to step aside while the Bishop Shanahan staff removed a ladder from under the basket.

Truth is, the Falcons should have asked for it to stay on the floor with them.

Bishop Shanahan’s bigs dominated the low post, finishing with 24 points in the paint en route to a 43-39 win over Pottsgrove on Tuesday night during the opening round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.

Center Courtney Warley, a 6-3 Manhattan College commit, led the way with 22 points — 12 in the paint — for the No. 6 seeded Eagles. Fellow big Kathryn Greenhut followed with 12 of her 15 points in the paint while Shanahan collectively worked its way to the free-throw line 12 times.

“When we go up against a small team, we try to run a lot of inside-out and high-lows,” said Warley. “We knew we were up against a much smaller team, so that was our gameplan coming into it.”

“We had a mismatch with our size,” said Shanahan head coach Fran Burbidge. “It was good to see our girls work it into the paint and take advantage of it.”

Not a bad way to set up their postseason run, right on the heels of winning the Ches-Mont title for the third consecutive season. The win sets No. 6 seeded Shanahan (17-4 overall) up with a quarterfinal matchup against Villa Maria — a 48-40 overtime winner against Penncrest — Friday night.

Pottsgrove head coach Mike Brendlinger and the No. 11 seeded Falcons (14-9 overall) saw the numbers and watched the film. Despite all the preparation and practices over the past 21 days since their last game, they simply didn’t have the bodies to match Shanahan in the post.

“We knew what we were up against,” said Brendlinger. “It wasn’t just size — it was athletic size. Their bigs could make plays and finish around the basket. We did the best we could with what we had, but they definitely had us in size.”

While the Falcons were outmatched in size, they certainly held the advantage in quickness.

Speedy senior guard Diana Randleman scored a game-high 25 points, including 15 of Pottsgrove’s 16 points in the first half.

“She’s a steady influence,” said Brendlinger of Randleman. “Sometimes our offense struggles to score, she’s usually the one that’ll get us over the hump. She keeps our offense going and isn’t afraid to bring it in.”

That was on display as the 5-2 Randleman challenged Shanahan’s bigs several times, including a couple circus drives that she made look simple.

Fellow senior Molly Galvin connected twice from 3-point range for nine points while Jenna Yerger finished with five.

Through the first half, Pottsgrove kept right in check with the Eagles, even holding a 15-12 lead midway through the second quarter. After Shanahan finished the half on a 7-1 run to make it 19-16 at the break, Pottsgrove kept itself right in the rearview.

Shanahan opened the second half on a 9-0 run — all nine from Warley — and extended it to a 30-23 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. The Falcons kept pressing, though.

Galvin nailed a 3-pointer while Randleman bookended a basket by Yerger to suddenly bring the Falcons within three at 34-31.

The lead proved to be just insurmountable, though, as Shanahan finished 5-for-8 from the free throw line to ice it late.

A three-time Ches-Mont champion and a four-year starter, Warley admits she and her teammates aren’t ready to call it a season quite yet.

“Our first goal was to win Ches-Monts,” she said, “but we know we’re not done yet. We’ve got to keep working hard and playing well and see where it takes us.”

Surely a climb up the district ladder wouldn’t hurt.

Settle the Score

Tuesday included, Randleman finished the season with 10 games scoring 20-plus points. Of those 10 games, the Falcons finished 7-3.

Face in the Crowd

Longtime Bishop Shanahan softball head coach Ron Savastio was on hand and honored during halftime as he celebrated his 84th birthday.

“Why you guys gotta embarrass me like that?” he asked some of his Shanahan colleagues through a wide grin as he walked back to the bleachers.