CB West headed back to states with over Pennsbury in District 1-6A playbacks
DOYLESTOWN >> The Bucks are back.
“It’s awesome. It’s amazing,” said Central Bucks West’s Maddie Burke after helping her team officially clinch a spot in states on Wednesday night. “We went our freshman year and lost in the first round…It’s awesome to be back.”
Burke was playoff-ready, the West defense squeezed Pennsbury tight (particularly in a pivotal second quarter), and the Bucks hammered out a 49-32 victory over the Falcons in the District 1-6A Playbacks. The win advances 14th-seeded West to the ninth-place game on Friday, on the road at No. 12 Plymouth-Whitemarsh. And then it’s onto the PIAA-6A Tournament.
“We’re excited about that,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “What we did tonight — something we had been inconsistent with — was we played smart. We had only a couple unforced turnovers. We moved the ball well. We took good shots.
“And on defense, we acknowledged where their scorers were and did a good job of zeroing in on them and limiting them. (Ava Sciolla) is gonna be a really good player for them.”
Sciolla scored 17 points for the Falcons but was held to just three in the second quarter, during which West (17-9) blanked the Falcons for a six-minute stretch in building a double-digit lead.
And at the other end, Burke was on her way to a game-high 20 points, including a trio of threes.
“I told her before the game that this is the type of game that is historic,” Rakowsky said of the junior forward. “You remember the game that you qualified for states. You remember the state games. You do well and it’s on a bigger scope.
“So it’s good to be back.”
After Cami Wiegand opened the scoring for Pennsbury (19-7), Burke quickly emerged, hitting back-to-back threes for West.
The two teams battled back and forth in the early going before the Bucks went up 13-10 on a three by Emily Spratt. Spratt provided a huge boost off the bench for West, contributing eight first-half points.
Burke’s strip, steal and layup stretched the Buck advantage to 17-12. Another basket by Burke followed by a score off a rebound by Izzy Treon (10 points) gave the Bucks a 21-14 lead after one.
Olivia Irons nailed a three for West in the opening moments of the second quarter and Spratt connected for her second three, widening the gap to 32-14.
West held Pennsbury scoreless the first six minutes of the second quarter.
“We went to that zone and it was working,” Burke said. “We were talking. We were moving. We were active. It just worked really well.”
Wiegand ending the drought for the Falcons with a three and Sciolla hit from deep at the buzzer, but West went into the break comfortably ahead, 34-20.
True to form, Burke hit another three to make it a 15-point lead in the third, and West was on its way.
“It was a really great team win,” Burke said. “We played really well togther. We scouted and we worked on it all week. And we came out and we executed so it was really good.”
