Berks Catholic advances in 4A with 38-25 slog over Shamokin
SHILLINGTON>> It was far from Berks Catholic’s best effort or execution, but the hallmark of good clubs are those who can still overcome off-nights to record victories.
The Saints managed to do that Saturday evening by posting a 38-25 win over Shamokin in a first-round PIAA 4A clash, held at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School, the middle game of a tripleheader. The Reading boys won their opener as defending 6A state champions; the Kutztown boys saw their finest season in 33 years end in the 3A nightcap.
Berks Catholic’s girls struggled through what was, for the Saints, a rather pedestrian, low-energy night. The county’s best player, Dejah Terrell, had five points entering the fourth quarter before finally finding some game late.
It was enough to see it through and live another day and in the end that’s all that that counts. The Saints are back at it on Wednesday.
“It was a long layoff, we were off for eight days,” BC head coach Bob Birmingham said. “You hate to use that as an excuse but sometimes, it is. You’re just not playing against competition. You’re used to playing three games a week, not one game and then five practices. It’s tough to keep that enthusiasm and focus up sometimes.
“We need to play with a bit more energy. We play real well when we’re playing upbeat and we were hanging our heads and shrugging our shoulders a bit tonight and that’s not the way we play. We’re used to giving one another high-fives and I thought we played tense tonight. We need to play loose. That’s just the team we are. We play better at both ends when we’re playing that way.”
BC’s inability to drain perimeter shots made the paint sluggish for the 6-foot-1 Terrell, who as a result faced double and triple teams from Shamokin’s defense with the Tribe’s need to stay honest diminished. The Saints were 3 of 16 from beyond the arc; their usually flowing offense stilted and uneven.
“We usually shoot about 40-percent from 3-point range, so that opens things up if we’re knocking down the shots,” Birmingham said. “And I thought they were pretty physical with her on the block and that sometimes throws her off a bit.”
Shamokin, however, found the sledding equally treacherous against what was a stout BD defensive effort. The Indians — who had effectively employed a zone defense through three quarters — were forced to abandon it late in an effort to go for broke. That actually worked in the Saints favor by opening the floor up; Terrell scored eight of her team-high 15 points down the stretch.
“I think they had to (do that), because we were going to pull it out and they couldn’t guard us off the dribble,” Birmingham said. “So we went with what we call our ‘5-out’ for layups.”
BC responded to more open floor with its best quarter of the night during the final one, a 15-point outburst that put the issue to rest.
Shamokin jumped out to a 7-3 lead before ending the first quarter on even terms. The Saints took the lead for what turned out to be for good early in the second quarter; the Tribe were able to manage just one field goal during the stanza and left the floor trailing 18-10 at the half.
The third quarter stayed sluggish before Shamokin’s switch to man defense during the fourth finally sent Terrell on her personal 8-0 run. It turned the contest into a 33-25 affair, just enough breathing room to comfortably see it out.
Shamokin’s Keyona Shoff led all scorers with 16 points and was her squad’s sole reliable offensive source for the balance of the evening.
PIAA 4A girls
at Governor Mifflin
Berks Catholic 38, Shamokin 25
Shamokin — 7 3 7 7 — 25
Berks Catholic — 7 11 5 15 — 38
Shamokin
Shoff 5 4-4 16, Deptula 1 1-4 3, Nazih 1 0-0 2, Bonshock 1 0-0 2, Aurand 0 2-2 2, Erdman 0 0-2 0, Kogut 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 7-12 25.
3-pointers: 2 (Shoff 2)
Berks Catholic
Terrell 5 3-4 15, Holt 2 1-3 5, M Leininger 1 2-2 4, Duncan 2 1-2 6, Gaffney 1 0-0 2, S Leininger 2 0-0 4, Kirwan 0 2-2 2. Totals: 13 9-13 38.
3-pointers: 3 (Terrell 2, Duncan)
