Villa Maria falls to Southern Lehigh in state quarterfinals

Reading >> Villa Maria’s cold shooting in the first half doomed the Hurricanes in their 49-32 loss to District 11 champion Southern Lehigh in the PIAA 5A girls state quarterfinals Saturday at Reading High School.
The Hurricanes, who trailed 17-2 after 13 minutes, shot 1-for-20 from the field in the first half. District 1 champion Villa Maria did not make a field goal until junior forward Jackie Ford nailed one 2:13 before halftime.
“We really struggled on offense in the first half,” said Villa Maria head coach Kathy McCartney. “We had good looks, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket in the first half. And then it was a big deficit that we spent the rest of the game trying to dig out of.”
Although Villa Maria never got closer than within nine points of Southern Lehigh (26-3) in the second half, the Hurricanes’ aggressive man-to-man defense kept causing Spartan turnovers – the District 11 champs committed 19 turnovers Saturday. But Villa Maria (26-5) couldn’t supply the knockout punch.
“We’d come up with the ball, but then we’d turn it over or miss a layup at the other end, so we never got out of the hole,” said McCartney. “We had opportunities to score, and I kept waiting for it [scoring run] to happen, but it never did.”
One impediment the Hurricanes faced was the 6-foot-1 presence of Southern Lehigh senior Ellie Cassel, who blocked five shots and grabbed close to a dozen rebounds in the first half. The Spartans rebounded well using a 2-3 zone defense.
“They crushed us on the glass,” said McCartney. “[Cassel’s] very tough. They outrebounded us today, and they were getting to a lot of loose balls.”
The Hurricanes were facing a tough duo in 1,000-point scorer Cassel and Georgetown University-bound senior Olivia Snyder, who scored 24 points Saturday and converted nine of the Spartans’ 11 field goals. Snyder is only three points away from tying the school-record point total of 2,060 set in 2005. The duo are both four-year starters, and the Spartans have gone 107-10 in that stretch, including an appearance in the 5A state semifinals last winter.
Snyder scored the Spartans’ first seven points, on a short field goal, a tip-in and a trey, to give Southern Lehigh a 7-2 lead. The Hurricanes shot 0-for-7 from the field in the first quarter, and trailed 13-2, their only score a couple of early free throws by Abby Walheim.
Villa Maria kept the defensive pressure on, and a couple of early steals by junior guard Myra Warley gave the Hurricanes scoring opportunities, but Villa continued having troubles getting the ball in the basket, even from underneath. The half ended with Southern Lehigh ahead 21-7.
The Hurricanes began to heat up offensively in the third quarter, and after a couple of layups by Paige Lauder (fed by Maddy Ryan) were followed by a basket by Warley, who managed to work her way inside, Southern Lehigh’s lead was trimmed to 23-14 with 3:59 left in the third quarter. But the Spartans held Villa Maria scoreless the rest of the third quarter, and a couple of scoring drives by Snyder gave Southern Lehigh a 29-14 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Both team’s offenses perked up in the fourth quarter. Lauder (who led the Hurricanes with 12 points) drove in for a couple of scores while Snyder kept connecting for Southern Lehigh. Walheim, the Hurricanes’ all-time scoring leader, scored underneath to make it 39-28 with 4:47 left,
Meanwhile, both teams ran into foul trouble in the fourth quarter, with Cassel fouling out with 3:44 to play, and four Villa Maria players each accumulating five fouls apiece in the closing minutes. Much of the rest of Saturday’s scoring action occurred at the free throw line, as Southern Lehigh increased its lead.
Southern Lehigh, who will face District 12 champion Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA 5A state semifinal Tuesday, lost to the Patriots 40-37 Dec. 7.
While Villa Maria sees its season end, it has been a memorable campaign for the Hurricanes, who defeated PIAA 6A power Garnet Valley and captured the District 1 5A championship with a dominating win at the Liacouras Center. And the 2018-19 season featured all-time leading scorer Abby Walheim, who will be playing lacrosse for Villanova University next year.
Villa Maria senior guard Julia Samar said, “I think this season just taught us to stick together. We really matured during the season, learning to rebound from a hard loss and get on a winning streak.”
In an emotion-filled voice, McCartney said, “I was proud of the way we battled to the end today. You know, if somebody walked into the gym [at the Geigle Complex] in the final minutes and didn’t see the scoreboard, they’d think it was a close game – we were battling in the last minute. And you can’t hang a season on just one game. It’s a very disappointing loss today but we were 26-5 this season – that’s a helluva year.”

Southern Lehigh 49, Villa Maria 32
Southern Lehigh       13 8 8 20 – 49
Villa Maria Academy 2 5 7 18 – 32
Southern Lehigh (49): Moncman 0 2-3 2, Snyder 9 5-11 24, Rautureau 0 5-7 5, Schmitt 0 4-4 4, Rice 1 2-4 4, Cassel 1 7-10 9, Mobley 0 1-2 1, Totals 11 26-41 49.
Villa Maria Academy (32): Samar 0 0-0 0, Ryan 1 0-0 2, Warley 2 0-0 4, Walheim 2 4-9 8, Lauder 4 4-5 12, Tague 0 0-0 0, Ford 1 1-2 3, Chieffalo 1 0-0 3, Totals 11 9-16 32.
Three-point field goals: Southern Lehigh – Snyder; Villa Maria – Chieffalo.