PIAA Girls Basketball: Welde’s experience proving invaluable to O’Hara
Cardinal O’Hara’s Erin Welde will never be the player who scores 20 points a game and wows everyone with her offensive wizardry.
Instead she brings so much more to the Lions.
Once a backup to Division I players such as Maura Hendrixson (Drexel), Kenzie Gardler (Villanova) and Hannah Nihill (Drexel), Welde worked to find her niche and earned a starting job on the team her senior year.
O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan said recently that she cannot take Welde off the court because of her strong defense, energy and leadership. So what if Welde doesn’t bring much on offense — without her, it’s hard to imagine the Lions would still be alive in the PIAA Class 6A tournament.
“I know that I’m not going to be beneficial on offense, it turned out,” Welde said, laughing. “So, I know the only way I can stay on the court is if I’m playing good defense. If I’m not playing good defense, it doesn’t matter if I help out on the offensive end, I won’t be on the court. And I want to play. I just try to bring my best.”
Welde and the District 12 champion Lions (15-11) meet District 2 runner-up Neshaminy (24-4) in the state quarterfinals Friday at Norristown High School. Game time is 6 p.m. The Redskins cruised past Hazleton, 70-40, in the second round.
“We know that states is a new season and that’s how we look at it. We obviously didn’t end (the Catholic League playoffs) how we wanted to, so we knew that coming into states we had to play better,” Welde said after helping the Lions defeat Spring-Ford in the second round. “We always say that we don’t have to be the best team, we just have to be the best team for that game. Two months ago, if we played (Spring-Ford), and when they started to come back in the second half, I think we would’ve folded. It would’ve been a little different because we would’ve been a lot more nervous I’m just so proud of our team that we could pull out the win.”
Welde has been valuable in a big sister role for O’Hara’s underclassmen, including top scorers Amaris Baker and Sydni Scott, who are experiencing this state tournament run for the first time. Welde, whose actual sister Anne is a freshman role player, can sense when the kids are not all right.
“Mentally, we get all over the place and I see it a lot of times. Syd is one of my best friends, and I can tell when she’s all over the place,” Welde said. “To win games we need her and Amaris, all the younger players to stay with us. Even though me and Kerry (Patterson) might have the experience, we aren’t a team without the younger players, so we just try to bring them in when we have to.”
Last year’s O’Hara team won a second straight Catholic League title and was the favorite to play for a PIAA Class 6A title before its sudden and shocking season-ending loss to Upper Dublin in the first round of the state tournament. This year’s O’Hara team continues to surprise and surpass its moderate preseason expectations.
Welde knows how weird it may seem.
“I think it might be that the young players just don’t know, they weren’t here the past three years,” Welde said. “We lost the state championship, we lost in semis and we lost in the first round. The past two years, especially, we probably had a good chance to win it but we lost, got upset and whatever. But they don’t know that … and I think that works to our benefit.”
Elsewhere in the Class 6A tournament:
Garnet Valley vs Council Rock North at Norristown, 7:30 >> The District 1 champion Jaguars (28-1) are showing the state how dangerous they are right now. Put simply, they are on a roll. In a 62-40 thumping of Bethlehem Freedom last round, the Jags shot an eye-popping 68.2 percent (29-for-44) from the floor.
Senior forward Emily McAteer was exceptional, scoring 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting.
If O’Hara and Garnet Valley advance, we will see an all-Delaware County matchup in the semifinal round Monday.
Saturday
Bonner & Prendergast advanced to the final eight of the Class 4A tournament with a 54-34 romping of District 2 champion Lake-Lehman. The District 12 champion Pandas meet Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg at Reading High’s Geigle Complex. Tip off is 1 o’clock.
During the playoffs, the Pandas have thrived on crisp ball movement and a balanced offensive attack. One play that worked wonders in the second round was the pick-and-roll connection between guard Dakota McCaughan and forward Alexis Gleason.
“It helps a lot, and having someone like Alexis who can cut to the basket and can do the pick and roll with me, it opens up a lot because now they can’t just key on one player,” McCaughan said.
When healthy, Gleason has been a dynamic performer for the Pandas. She missed seven games earlier in the season due to an ankle injury, but is flourishing on the biggest stage.
“It’s been hard. I’ve gone through physical therapy and all,” said Gleason, who scored nine points and played tremendous defense on Madison Borum, Lake-Lehman’s 1,000-point scorer. “But getting back on the court is a great feeling. “
The winner advances to the semifinals to play either District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic or District 4 runner-up Danville.
In Class 5A:
Archbishop Carroll vs Archbishop Wood at Cardinal O’Hara, 1 >> The District 12 champion Patriots defeated Gettysburg, 42-31, in the second round. Erin Sweeney tallied nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, including career point No. 1,000. Harlem Jennings scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds, made three steals and handed out two assists.
Carroll (22-5) and Wood (17-11) meet in a rematch of last month’s Catholic League final at the Palestra. The Patriots claimed 48-42 decision over the Vikings.
The winner plays District 1 champion Villa Maria or District 11 champion Southern Lehigh in the semifinal round Tuesday.
