Gwynedd Mercy shuts down Allentown Central Catholic in PIAA-4A first round

ALLENTOWN >> There was no need for luck in Gwynedd Mercy girls basketball’s St. Patrick’s Day trip up to Allentown Central Catholic for the first round of the PIAA-4A tournament.

The Monarchs brought their defense.

“I think the key was we didn’t allow the fact that we had to play defense for almost two minute fluster us,” GMA coach Tom Lonergan said. “We stayed in it. We didn’t get out of what we try to do.”

The District 1 champs never let the host Vikettes’ patient offense wear them down, grabbed the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquished it – holding off the District 11 champs to reach the state quarterfinals with a 39-31 victory Wednesday night at Rockne Hall.

“Our strategy was just to try to keep them in control and not let them get open shots,” GMA senior Kaylie Griffin said. “We looked at the film and they tend to slow down and wait for the defense to sleep and then go and score when the defense is asleep. And our mentality was just we have to play defense the entire time even when we’re tired we have to keep it up and keep motivating each other.”

Griffin scored eight of her game-high 11 points in the first half, Sofia Coleman finished with nine points while Hanna Griffin collected all nine of her points after halftime as Gwynedd Mercy (16-2) won its sixth consecutive PIAA tournament opener. The Monarchs advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018.

“We’re a very balanced team and we have five or six kids that can score or have scored at one time double figures,” Lonergan said. “We feel we’re not a one-pony show we come out with a good solid group that can put point in the board. And we feel we shoot very efficiently.”

GMA visits District 12 and PCL champ Archbishop Wood 2:30 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. The Monarchs and Vikings – who rolled past Mastery North 67-28 in the District 12 final Wednesday – last met in the state tournament in 2016 when Wood earned a 42-33 win in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

“I think that’s the key for us moving forward is to get not just me of Sofie or one of us in the 20s,” Kayile Griffin said. “We just have to spread out and keep it balanced and keep the offense flowing because when we’re all scoring we’re all happy.”

Madi Szoke’s 10 points paced Allentown Central Catholic, which was making its second straight PIAA-4A appearance. Emily Vaughan tallied nine points for the Vikettes, who won their first District 12 title since 2012.

“We definitely shut down five (Vaughan) cause she’s a really good shooter and I’m really proud of Maddie (Newell),” Kaylie Griffin said. “Maddie really shut her down so did Hannah when she rotated on her.”

Wednesday’s first-round game was a matchup between two of the state’s most successful coaches – Lonergan having won more than 700 games while Allentown Central Catholic coach Mike Kopp having eclipsed 1,000 victories.

“Doesn’t happen too often,” Lonergan said. “That’s what I told him before the game – probably longevity-wise have to be two in the state, got to be up there as far as longevity. So, he does a great job with their program and his team’s very well coached, they move the ball extremely well.”

Coleman knocked down a 3-pointer and was fouled with 49.9 seconds left in the opening quarter – she didn’t complete the four-point play but her triple still put the Monarchs in front 9-8.

GMA’s man-to-man defense proceeded to lock down the Vikettes the rest of the half, allowing just two points to go into the break ahead 16-10.

A Vaughan jumper had ACC down 16-12 but the Griffins combined for a 6-0 run – St. Joseph’s commit Kaylie connecting on a 3-pointer while Hannah’s three-point play off a basket in transition gave GMA its first double-digit lead at 22-12 at 5:48 in the third.

Central Catholic cut the margin to seven twice but the Monarchs were back up 10 going into the fourth – Newell’s bounce pass to Jenna Mangan for a layup in the third’s final seconds made it 28-18.

“We felt if we could get up on them we felt their style of offense is going to be tough to try to chase to catch up,” Lonergan said. “And we were able to make enough foul shots to kind of fend them off.”

The Vikettes could not make much of a dent into GMA’s lead in the fourth. Julia Roth’s basket after a Molly Driscoll steal had the host trailing 28-20 but Newell hit the front end of a 1-and-1 at 3:56 while Hannah Griffin found Mangan upcourt for a layup and a 31-20 advantage.

Gwynedd Mercy extended its lead to as large as 12 twice in the fourth, the last time after a Hannah Griffin free throw made it 39-27 with 52 seconds remaining.

“The offense we were going to get enough points, and again we played strong defense so we wanted to make sure that we just finished,” Lonergan said.

In the first quarter, Allentown Central Catholic scored six straight points – the last four from Szoke – to go up 6-2 but Kaylie Griffin hit a runner and two Coleman free throws at 3:01 tied things at six.

A Vaughan basket gave the Vikettes their last lead at 8-6 before a block by Bianca Coleman led to Sofia Coleman’s three from the wing that gave GMA a 9-8 edge after eight minutes.

Kaylie Griffin scored the first four points of the second quarter while a Bianca Coleman triple pushed the Monarchs lead to eight. Driscoll’s long two-point jumper gave the Vikettes its only points of the period and pulled the home side within six at halftime.

Gwynedd Mercy 39, Allentown Central Catholic 31
Gwynedd Mercy 9 7 12 11 — 31
Allentown Central Catholic 8 2 8 13 — 39
Gwynedd Mercy: Kaylie Griffin 5 0-1 11; Sofia Coleman 3 2-3 9; Jenna Mangan 3 0-1 6; Hannah Griffin 2 5-7 9; Bianca Coleman 1 0-0 3; Maddie Newell 0 1-2 1; Totals 14 8-14 39.
Allentown Central Catholic: Madi Szoke 5 0-0 10; Emily Vaughan 3 2-2 9; Molly Driscoll 2 0-0 4; Hanna Hoeing 0 3-4 3; Julia Roth 1 1-4 3; Armani Brickhouse 1 0-0 2; Totals 12 6-10 31.
3-pointers: GMA-B. Coleman, S. Coleman, K. Griffin; ACC-Vaughan.