Mount St. Joseph comeback falls short in District 1-5A semifinals

LOWER MERION >> The Mount St. Joseph basketball team battled back from down 10 points in the fourth quarter against Springfield (Delco) to get within one, but that’s as close as it would get.

The fifth-seeded Magic lost to the top-seeded Cougars, 52-42, in the District 1-5A semifinals Tuesday night at Harriton High School.

Springfield took a 39-29 lead when Rachel Conran hit a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Grace Niekelski responded with seven straight points for the Mount. After Springfield split a pair of free throws, Taylor Sistrunk hit a three-pointer to get the Mount within one, 40-39, with 2:38 to play.

Alexa Abbonizio immediately answered with a layup to put the Cougars back up by three and Springfield went 10-for-12 on free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

While Springfield was hitting its free throws, the Mount was turning the ball over and missing shots. The Magic had seven turnovers in the final quarter and their only points after Sistrunk’s three came when Niekelski split a pair of foul shots and when Georgia Pickett put back an offensive rebound.

Springfield will face No. 3 Great Valley in the district championship Saturday at Temple University’s Liacouras Center at 1 p.m.

FOUL TROUBLE >> In the second half Mount St. Joseph committed 15 fouls to just two by the Cougars. The difference was 7-1 after the third quarter and Springfield’s second foul came with 1:55 left in the game. It was 12-2 before the Mount started intentionally fouling.

“Any time it’s 12-to-2 and both teams are playing hard you question some of the calls,” Mount coach Matt Feeney said, “but that’s not what cost us the game. We had some things we could have executed a little better and we just didn’t do it at the right times. We left some of their shooters open and that’s what hurt us. Credit to them, they played a really nice game.”

Springfield made the Magic pay from the charity stripe, shooting 21-for-24 in the second half.

Two Mount starters, Kelly Rothenberg and Audrey Bryce, fouled out in the fourth quarter.

SLOW START >> The Mount took a 2-0 lead when Niekelski grabbed the ball after the opening tip and found Rothenberg for a quick basket. The team didn’t score again until Niekelski found the bottom of the net with less than two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Sistrunk split a pair of free throws and the Magic trailed, 13-5, after eight minutes.

“We weren’t taking enough shots,” Feeney said. “We took 16 shots total in the first half. You can’t win a high school basketball game taking 16 shots in a half unless you’re going to shoot 70% from the floor and we’re not.”

The Magic opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 13 and kept Springfield off the board until there was 1:20 remaining before half. Conran hit a three on the ensuing possession after MSJ tied the game and Springfield went to the break ahead, 16-13.

OFFENSIVE MAKEOVER >> The Magic focused on getting more shots up in the second half. The strategy paid off, scoring 29 points compared to 13 in the opening 16 minutes.

Niekelski hit a three-pointer to give the Mount a 27-24 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter. It was the Mount’s first lead since 2-0. Niekelski scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

“It’s always a good plan to get (Niekelski) the ball,” Feeney said. “They did a nice job defensively taking her out a little bit in the first half. We schemed up a couple things coming out of the break to get her a little more open and she knocked down the shots.”

The District 1-5A rivals, meeting for the fourth straight postseason with each team winning twice, traded leads until Springfield rattled off eight straight points to take a 36-29 lead to the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT >> The Mount will host No. 10 Radnor in the third-place game Friday night. Both teams have already clinched a spot in the PIAA-5A state tournament.

Springfield (D) 52, Mount St. Joseph 42

Mount St. Joseph 5 8 16 13 – 42

Springfield (D)     13 3 20 16 – 52

MSJ: Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Vesey 1 0-0 2, Rothenberg 2 0-0 5, Sistrunk 2 1-2 6, Morrow 0 0-0 0, Bryce 1 1-2 3, Niekelski 7 4-5 20, Pickett 3 0-1 6. Total 16 6-10 42.

S: Long 2 5-10 9, Abbonizio 3 10-10 17, Postiglione 0 4-5 4, Conran 7 0-0 16, Aaron 0 0-1 0, Johnson 1 4-4 6, Valerio 0 0-0 0. Total 13 23-30 52.

3-point goals: MSJ: Rothenberg, Sistrunk, Niekelski 2. S: Abbonizio, Conran 2.