DOWNINGTOWN >> Good shooting teams believe their shots will go down, no matter how long it takes or who does it. The Bishop Shanahan girls basketball team weathered a tough shooting evening until the Ambrose sisters, Carmel and Faith, were huge in the fourth quarter to help the Eagles shake off Mechanicsburg, 36-29, in the first round of the PIAA 5A Championship on Saturday.
Shanahan improves to 15-11 and will face District 2 second-place team Abington Heights in the second round Wednesday at Bethlehem Freedom High School at 6 p.m.
Neither team shot better than 25 percent from the floor and even though it wasn’t high scoring, it was a game of runs and Shanahan was able to provide the decisive final one in the fourth quarter.
“Survive and advance and we just survived tonight,” stated a relived Shanahan coach Jim Powers. “What do they say, ‘a win is a win no matter how you get them.’ It was a rough shooting night for us, but we played good defense, kept them in the 20’s. We couldn’t string them together. We would hit one, then miss a few. We couldn’t get any rhythum. We were off, but we found a way.”
The third quarter started ominously for the Eagles after forward Sami Blumenthal picked up third foul in the opening minute. The Wildcats held the lead the entire quarter. Alaina Sweet notched two consecutive baskets to bump the lead to 24-19 with 1:29 left. Sweet had six of her game-high 16 points in the third.
Carmel Ambrose nailed a 3-three pointer to cut the gap to 24-22. Lauren Lebo added a field throw to give Mechanicsburg a 25-22 lead heading into the fourth.
Ambrose hit another three from the same spot, the left corner, to tie the score at 25-25.
“The first half was rough with my shooting, I just couldn’t make one, but my coach told me to believe in myself and keep shooting and eventually, they fell in. It was good,” said Carmel Ambrose.
The Wildcats switched from zone to a man-to-man defense, which proved pivotal later in the fourth.
Sweet scored with 5:14 to play to knot the score at 27-27. But, it was to be the last points they would score until the last seconds of the contest. They would go to miss 12 of the 14 shots they took in the fourth.
“We didn’t make enough shots,” said Mechanicsburg coach Clay McAllister. “It’s that simple. We were 2-from-22 behind the arc and we can’t shoot it like that and expect to win many games. Credit to them, they made shots in the fourth quarter and we didn’t. Tough way to lose”
Faith Ambrose then took over. On two straight possessions, she beat her player and drove the lane for layups. She added three free throws for seven straight points as the game went from a nailbiter to a comfortable 34-27 lead with a little over a minute to go.
“Honestly, it was a simple play, just spreading the floor and driving,” said Faith Ambrose. “In the first half we didn’t many of those looks because they were playing zone, but when they went man, it opened things up.”
“We did change what we ran because he switched to man,” said Powers. “We were able to get her going and got a good screen from Sam where she was able to shake free and get a path to the basket.”
Asha Pratt scored in the final seconds for the Wildcats, but the time ran out and the celebration began as the ballyhooed seniors for the Eagles – Faith Ambrose, Blumenthal and Abby Wolf – walked out with a victory in their final home game.
The Ambrose sisters combined for 13 of Shanahan’s last 17 points.
“It was definitely everyone, not just us,” said Faith Ambrose. “We were down, so we had to come back and she (Carmel) hit some shots and gave us momentum.”
Faith Ambrose finished with a team-high 12 points, Blumenthal and Carmel Ambrose had nine each and Wolf chipped in six as just four players scored for the Eagles.
Bishop Shanahan 36, Mechanicsburg 29
Mechanicsburg: Yanoski 1 0-0 2; Pratt 2 0-0 4; Edwards 0 0-0 0; Lebo 1 4-6 6; Sweet 7 0-0 16; Klinger 0 1-2 1. Totals: 11 5-8 29.
Bishop Shanahan: Blumenthal 3 3-3 9; Foster 0 0-0 0; C. Ambrose 3 0-0 9; Wolf 1 4-4 6; F. Ambrose 3 2-3 12; Dunchaskie 0 0-0 0; Bretz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 9-10 36.
Mechanicsburg 9 9 7 4 – 29
Bishop Shanahan 10 4 8 14 – 36
3-point goals: Sweet 2, C. Ambrose 3, F. Ambrose.
