No. 5 Methacton girls basketball opens PAC playoffs with win over No. 4 Pope John Paul II

GRATERFORD >> Methacton had spent the last few days working hard to fine-tune its game for the playoffs and that effort paid off in Thursday’s opening round of the Pioneer Athletic Conference Final Six girls basketball playoffs.

The Warriors shook off a somewhat slow start, took control in the second quarter and pulled away for a 61-20 win over Pope John Paul II at Perkiomen Valley High School. Methacton will play top-seeded Perk Valley in a semifinal Saturday at 7:45 p.m. back at PV. In the other semifinal at 6 p.m., Phoenixville will face Spring-Ford, a 47-27 winner over Owen J. Roberts in Thursday’s first game.

Cassidy Kropp scored 21 to lead the No. 5 seed Warriors (16-7), Reana Torres followed with 13 points and Mairi Smith added seven. Katie Nilles led No. 4 seed PJP (9-12) with five points.

“We had a really good three days of practice,” said Methacton coach Craig Kaminski. “Down the stretch of the regular season, I don’t think we played really good basketball.”

“We knew we had to play a good game our first playoff game,” said Kropp. “Trying to get some momentum going.”

Torres scored the first points of the night off a steal and the Warriors never trailed. But the Golden Panthers were down by just a 9-6 score late in the first quarter before the Warrior offense and defense really started to click.

“They’re very quick, very scrappy,” Kaminski said concerning the Golden Panthers. “They were running their sets. It’s tough to play someone you didn’t see during the regular season. I thought we showed some nervousness in the first quarter.”

Smith scored six in the opening quarter that ended up at 16-7 and Torres scored five in each of the first two quarters as the Warriors built a 30-10 halftime lead.

Then Kropp hit three straight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, in a 16-6 Methacton third quarter.

Much of the Methacton offense was as a result of a swarming defense that forced 12 turnovers in the first half.

“I think working hard on defense got our offense going,” said Kropp.

“We did a nice job defensively,” said Kaminski. “Our individual man-to-man had gotten a little lazy. I was really happy with the second quarter, and after halftime, we really picked up the intensity.”

Abby Arnold added six points and seven rebounds for the Warriors. Elena Colliluori grabbed eight rebounds for PJP.
Methacton wound up shooting 55 percent (22-for-40) from the field, including 8-for-12 by Kropp.

“We did a lot of work in practice on playing against a zone and our shots were really on today,” said Smith.

Pope John Paul came in with little time to prepare for the Warriors after finishing its regular season on Tuesday in a game that had district playoff implications.

“We had one night to prepare,” said Panther coach Jack Flanagan. “We played a game two nights ago that we had to win.”

And eventually, PJP wore down trying to combat the height and strength of the Warriors.

“Their reputation … they are who they are,” said Flanagan. “They’re prepared and they have two really good players. It was a basketball game for one half. Then we ran out of gas. It wasn’t a matter of effort. It really became an energy thing. We earned this game here tonight. We prepared as best we could.”

The Golden Panthers currently hold down the No. 4 spot in the District 1-4A rankings after defeating Pottsgrove on Tuesday and they hope that holds up with four teams making the tournament field.

On the other hand, Methacton knows it will face a big challenge against Perk Valley, which is 21-1 and ranked No. 1 in District 1-6A.

“We’re really excited about Saturday,” said Smith. “I think we all know what’s at stake and we’re looking forward to the playoff season.”

“We know that Saturday night is a big game,” Kaminski added. “We have a lot of respect for the No. 1 seed. They’re on a mission to win the whole thing this year. We need to be confident and show up and play our style of basketball.”

Methacton 61, Pope John Paul II 20