Bishop McDevitt’s final season ends in PIAA-2A quarterfinals

PHILADELPHIA >> Knocking off District 11 champ Mahanoy Area proved too tough a task. But for Dan Greenberg, Friday still was one final chance to compete as Bishop McDevitt girls basketball.

“This is a nice experience,” the Royal Lancers coach said. “We know states are difficult but just getting the little lanyards and coming on the floor, they were excited. At halftime we knew we were in trouble and I just said go play, play hard and represent the school and represent yourself.”

McDevitt, the District 12 champ, hung with the Golden Bears in the early minutes of their PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal but couldn’t keep up as Mahanoy warmed up from long distance and pulled away for a 56-26 victory.

With Bishop McDevitt set to close at the end of the school year, the result meant the contest at Archbishop Ryan was the finale for the program.

“This year we took the mindset, we kind of used as our slogan “The Last Dance,’ as a reference to the Bulls thing but this is our last dance as a school and as a program,” Greenberg said. “So we just tried to enjoy every game. And again, we do struggle but we won a District 12 championship, it was a great load off of us and it was fun.”

McDevitt (1-10) won its first game of 2021 in the District 12 final over Penn Treaty Tuesday to earn its spot in the state tournament. The Lancers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Mahanoy after an Emma Obfenda basket and pulled level at six after four straight points from Messiah White.

But the Golden Bears took over from there, scoring the last 12 of the first quarter and knocked down nine 3-pointers in the opening half to hold a 38-10 lead at the break.

“They started making their shots but I think we played a really good first quarter,” Bishop McDevitt senior Kate McNally said. “We didn’t give up. We knew they were going to be a hard team but we didn’t let that stop us from playing as hard as we can. We started off strong – they just started making their shots.”

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced in November it was closing both McDevitt and all-girls school Hallahan at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. And while there’s no right time to have a final season, dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to recognize the current and former members of a program that won five PCL titles, four under current Gwynedd Mercy Academy coach Tom Lonergan.

“Our COVID restrictions at the school never loosen up,” said Greenberg, in his second year as head coach. “I am an alumni, I played basketball, but we never got a chance to bring our alums back into the building and celebrate. We actually did something outside, we did something for the girls alums outside of the game where we could go outside.

“Last couple years, the boys basketball team has (had) much success, those games were electric. And that’s what we were hoping for – I bet if we could have had fans this year, every game would have been crowded, it would have been great. Win or lose, we could of celebrated as a school community.”

Mahanoy finished Friday’s quarterfinal with 11 3-pointers – Claudia Clark hitting all four of hers in the first half as she scored a game-high 16 points.

Haley Moss added 12 points while Caitlee Kessock had 11 points as the Golden Bears advance to face District 4 champ Mount Carmel in the state semifinals Monday looking to reach the final for the first time since 1998 when they won the Class A title.

“I did a little research, I dug into them, I saw they’re an unbelievable shooting team so we tried to play a loose 3-2 (zone) to try to matchup with them but they’re good,” Greenberg said. “They’re patient, they missed a couple shots early, it didn’t affect them. They kept playing and eventually their sharpshooters just took over the game.”

Obfenda paced McDevitt with nine points, including the program’s final two on a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds left in the fourth. Sianii Posey chipped in eight points.

“It’s hard,” said McNally of McDevitt closing. “I’m a senior, it’s not as bad for me cause I get out but the juniors and the sophomores and freshmen, I know they’re devastated they have to go to a whole new school next year. Can’t really relate to them cause I’m graduating but I know they’re going through a tough time.”