Well-rounded Spring-Ford holds off Nazareth in PIAA Class 6A opener
UPPER PROVIDENCE >> “Five fingers, one fist.”
That mantra, adopted by the Spring-Ford girls basketball team, speaks to the advantage of unity (fist) over going in different directions (fingers). It was a big part of what the Rams were able to do Tuesday, when they opened play in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs by outlasting Nazareth, 43-32.
Spring-Ford, the District 1 runner-up, will face District 3 fifth seed Central York.
Offensive balance, with three players scoring nine or 10 points, combined with solid defensive play highlighted by holding the Blue Eagles scoreless in the second quarter. Seeing their lead cut to three (28-25) early in the fourth, the Rams built it back up with a 15-7 run down the stretch.
“The five fingers is going five different ways,” Spring-Ford head coach Mickey McDaniel explained. “The fist is everybody going in the same direction.”
It was a big rebound for Spring-Ford (18-9), three days removed from being upended by Plymouth Whitemarsh in the District 1-6A playoff championship game, 49-31. The Rams expanded a tenuous 12-11 first-quarter lead into a 20-11 advantage by halftime, then holding a 28-22 lead heading into the fourth.
“We tried to put it past us,” Anna Azzara, SF’s co-leader with Aaliyah Solliday at 10 points, said. “We wanted to come out with a positive attitude and not let it happen again.”
The Blue Eagles, fourth seed from District 11, used “threes” to dent several Spring-Ford leads along the way. Kelly Lesczcynski sank a long-distance bucket at the end of the first quarter to leave the Rams with a one-point lead, and successive 3-pointers from Renee Wells and Samantha Baker – they spanned the third and fourth quarters – got Nazareth with another “three” (28-25) of pulling even with Spring-Ford.
The Rams, however, showed their own level of proficiency from the far side of the arc. Siena Miller got all nine of her points from “threes” and six of Solliday’s markers were from long distance.
“It’s always nice when those shots go in,” Spring-Ford assistant coach Phil Roche, speaking for McDaniel while the latter was briefly feeling under the weather, said. “Knocking them down helps. We have a number of kids who can make shots.”
Spring-Ford’s initial seven-point run was started by a Miller “three.” It included Kamryn Pufko’s basket at the 3:55 mark and Azzara and Mac Pettinelli eachgoing 1-for-2 from the line.
The Rams’ six-point run in the second accounted for all the scoring in the second quarter, Nazareth coming up empty on its attempts. Solliday and Azzara hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Azzara capped it with a flying jumper with 15 seconds remaining.
Nazareth displayed its own offensive balance behind Baker, the team’s leading scorer with nine. Leszcynski and Breelyn Bender followed with eight apiece, but a 3-pointer from Leszcynski was the only dent in Spring-Ford’s fourth quarter surge, to which Pettinelli contributed all but one of her seven points.
“These girls don’t panic. They believe in themselves,” McDaniel said. “They know they can bounce out of it. For a group with a lack of experience (one senior), they have a great mindset. They’ve grown from day one.”
NOTES >> Nazareth was a strong 5-for-6 in free throws, Baker 3-for-4. Spring-Ford was 6-for-10 from the line, bolstered by Pettinelli’s 5-for-7. … Azzara on one big difference in the Rams’ performance between Saturday’s game and Tuesday’s: “Our energy was a lot better. We were working as a team.”
Spring-Ford 43, Nazareth 32
Nazareth: Lesczynski 3 0-0 8, Ahearn 0 0-0 0, Baker 2 3-4 9, Bender 4 0-0 8, Martucci 0 0-0 0, I. Novak 0 0-0 0, Kea 0 0-0 0, J. Novak 0 0 0-0 0, Wells 2 0-0 5, Falzone 0 2-2 2, Topping 0 0-0 0, Totals 11 5-6 32.
Spring-Ford: Miller 3 0-0 9, Azzara 4 1-2 10, Pufko 2 0-0 4, K. Tiffan 1 0-0 3, Pettinelli 1 5-8 7, Solliday 4 0-0 10, Robbins 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 6-10 43.
Nazareth 11 0 11 10-32
Spring-Ford 12 8 8 15-43
3-point goals: N – Lesczynski 2, Baker 2, Wells; SF – Miller 3, Solliday 2, Azzara, Tiffan.
