Spring-Ford holds off Methacton to repeat as Pioneer Athletic Conference champs

ROYERSFORD >> Two years separate Olivia and Lucy Olsen both in age and school, but that’s never kept them apart on the court.

“Over the years, we played rec basketball together,” said Olivia, the elder of the two.

“It didn’t matter what our ages were. It helped us build beyond our sisterly connection,” she laughed.

Wednesday night, that connection was part of the difference in helping top-seeded Spring-Ford to pull away from No. 3 Methacton in the second half, taking a 55-41 victory in completing an undefeated run through the Pioneer Athletic Conference and securing the Rams’ second straight league title.

Lucy Olsen overcame early foul trouble to finish with 13 points and created several of Methacton’s 25 turnovers, while Olivia Olsen’s tenacity on the glass kept multiple possessions alive, or simply resulted in putbacks that helped her to accumulate 11 points of her own.

“Of course, it’s special to win together — playing together makes it that much more fun,” Olivia added.

Since the inception of Pioneer Athletic Conference postseason tournaments, girls’ basketball in the league has followed a simple pattern.

Spring-Ford took the first three titles starting in 2006, with Pottsgrove breaking the run in 2009. Starting in 2012, the Rams went on another three-peat, a streak broken by Boyertown in 2015.
It appears another dominant stretch is well underway.

In all, it marks the 8th PAC title for the Rams in the 14-year history of the playoff era, and their fourth at the expense of the Warriors. Spring-Ford topped Methacton in three consecutive title games spanning the years from 2012 to 2014.

“Each day, the focus is on getting just a little better,” said head coach Mickey McDaniel, “and that’s our calling card. Our goals as a team are strong, but we don’t look ahead.

“At the end of each practice, we determine whether we got better — just one percent better. It’s tough to do, but that’s our mindset. [After the season] I’ll sit back and realize what we accomplished.”

The Rams added a special twist this time around — an undefeated run (18-0) through the PAC. In fact, the team stands undefeated to this point in the season against Pennsylvania opponents, their two lone setbacks coming at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix during the holiday season.

Meanwhile, the hard luck continued for Methacton, a program that ranks second behind Spring-Ford with six PAC title game appearances. Unfortunately, the Warriors have yet to take home the ultimate prize.

“Congratulations to Spring-Ford — they’ve been the best team all year long, and they were the best team tonight,” said Methacton coach Craig Kaminski.

“We have so much respect for Craig, his assistants, every player in that program,” McDaniel responded. “They are a team we’ve played so many times, and they’re going places — this postseason and in the future.”

Neither squad was yielding anything early on, as Spring-Ford created repeated Methacton turnovers in the half court, but the Warriors were able to gather a few loose balls to create opportunities and forged ahead 8-4 — the largest first-half lead for either side — on a Nicole Timko 3 about halfway through the quarter.

Spring-Ford’s job was made more difficult when Lucy Olsen went to the bench with two early fouls, but Abbey Boyer and Alyssa Yuan filled in admirably, limiting Timko after entering the game to only one basket the rest of the first half.

Meanwhile, the Rams weathered a poor shooting first half (10-for-36 from the field) with nine from Cassie Marte and by forcing a whopping 16 Methacton turnovers. Ariana Magazzolo’s jumper gave the Rams a two-point lead with about two minutes to play before the half, the exact margin they’d carry into the break.

“You can’t always control whether the ball’s going in the basket, but we can always control our defense,” Lucy Olsen explained. “We wanted to show the energy on that side, and we figured eventually the shots would start falling.”

A nearly six-minute Methacton dry spell turned the tide after halftime, with Lucy Olsen concerting two turnovers into breakaway layups, and Cassie Marte’s 3 (SF’s first of the game) giving the Rams their largest lead to that point, 30-21, and forcing a Methacton timeout. But after the timeout, Sky Sullivan found a cutting Olivia Olsen with a picturesque bounce pass to give the Rams the first double-digit lead of the game.

“It felt like they took things to another level in the second half, and we just couldn’t match that,” allowed Kaminski.

“We did turn it up a notch,” McDaniel agreed. “There’s a high basketball IQ on our team, and I think we realize that although we hadn’t played that well, we had the lead at halftime, and it was time to turn up the intensity, get to the rim more.”

As the third quarter wound down, Lucy Olsen nailed a step-back three to make it 35-21 Rams. By the time Methacton’s Sydney Tornetta hit a short bank shot to break the run, Spring-Ford had reeled off 12 in a row and led 35-23.

The Rams opened the fourth quarter with another 9-2 run, continually harassing Methacton into turnovers that led to fastbreak opportunities. Olivia Olsen’s 3 and Lucy Olsen’s driving layup put both sisters into double figures, and both teams’ starters left to an ovation in the final minutes.

Marte led Spring-Ford scorers with 14, trailed closely by Lucy and Olivia Olsen (13 and 11, respectively.) Methacton’s Sydney Tornetta led all scorers with 17, with Timko also cracked double figures with 10.

Both squads will proceed to the District 1 Class 6A tournament, where fourth-seeded Spring-Ford (21-2) will need to win next Wednesday’s second-round game in order to qualify for the PIAA state tournament. They’ll battle the winner of Friday’s North Penn/Haverford contest.

Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Methacton (20-5) kicks off its District journey Saturday afternoon when they host No. 24 Unionville.

“I guess the good part of getting here so often, but coming up short, is that I know for a fact we can turn around quickly and come out ready to play Saturday,” reasoned Kaminski.

In a program where good things apparently come in threes, Spring-Ford’s McDaniel was ready to adjust his sights to what lies ahead for the 2018-2019 squad. Last year’s Rams finished fourth in Districts and lost in the first round of states. How far can this version go?

“They (the players) have set those goals — big-picture goals — but we need to stay focused because the competition gets tougher and tougher. Tonight was plenty tough,” he acknowledged.

“PACs were the first goal,” Olivia Olsen said, “and next comes districts, hopefully followed by states. As far as we’re concerned, the season doesn’t end until late March.”