Girls Basketball: Slow start doesn’t hold Sacred Heart back against Delco Christian

RADNOR — No. 2 Sacred Heart Academy missed nine shots in the first quarter and trailed third-seeded Delco Christian by five points after eight minutes of Tuesday’s District 1 Class 2A girls semifinal match.

Sophomore guard MJ Donohue and the Lions were poised to change the script in the second period.

Donohue swished back-to-back 3-point field goals to highlight a game-changing, second-quarter run by the Lions, who rolled to a 42-28 victory in a rematch of last year’s district final.

Sacred Heart is aiming for its seventh consecutive Class 2A district championship and will face No. 1 Faith Christian Saturday.

Donohue scored seven of her 11 points during a 19-5 spurt in the second quarter. Sophomore power forward/center Keara McCaffrey dominated the paint with six points, three rebounds, two steals and a block and Maya Walker provided a spark with four points, two rebounds and two assists in the quarter. Sacred shot 8 of 15 from the floor and its defense recorded four steals in the second stanza.

“We knew we had to play better and we were ready,” said Donohue, who has developed into a team leader on and off the floor. “We had to settle and be smart and we knew we had to be better on defense.”

After a hot start in the first quarter (5-for-9 shooting), Delco Christian was held to seven points total on 3 of 24 shooting in the middle periods. Junior power forward Ashanti Harris, who scores 30-plus points in the regular season against the Lions, had her way in the first quarter in a battle of bigs with McCaffrey. But Sacred Heart ramped up its defense and caused 12 turnovers in the opening half, and Harris was a more or less a non-factor the rest of the night.

“(Delco Christian) came out and played a really good first quarter. They were very comfortable in our sets so we knew we had to change something up,” Sacred Heart coach Zach Shuler said. “They called a timeout at some point and I figured, you know what, we have to go full-court, man-to-man to change things up and get more aggressive. Keara, I thought, was the key, just making Ashanti work. And we told the guards that they needed to pressure.”

Donohue and freshman guard Megan Donahue did their jobs on both ends of the floor. Grace Brown (two points, three assists, one steal) had a solid floor game and Maddie Campbell gave the Lions a boost on defense off the bench, coming away with three steals.

Ultimately the Lions needed someone to lead their comeback on offense and Donahue started the rally with a layup to cut the Knights’ lead to 12-9 early in the second period. From there Sacred Heart seized control. Brown and McCaffrey hit short jumpers and Walker fought her way inside to score the go-ahead basket. Donohue then drilled 3-pointers on successive possessions to give the Lions a 22-14 advantage. They went into the locker room up 26-16 … and that was pretty much all she wrote.

“Once (Donohue) slows the game down a little bit and gets her feet set, she’s going to knock down some 3s for us,” Shuler said. “Those were big for us. We needed to see something go in for us. And I think Megan Donahue our freshman helped us in the second half with a nice drive and then she hit a 3 for us, too.”

Donahue had 10 points and three steals for Sacred Heart (13-8). McCaffrey recorded game highs in points (13), rebounds (nine) and blocked shots (four). Harris led DC with 12 points and Adelaide Smith added nine points in the loss.