24th annual West Chester Christmas Classic: Undefeated Conestoga rolls past Villa Maria into title game

West Chester – Conestoga improved its record to 8-0 with a 43-36 win against Villa Maria Academy at the 24th Annual West Chester Christmas Classic at West Chester University’s Hollinger Fieldhouse Wednesday night.
With the win, the Pioneers advance to the championship game Thursday evening, where they will face Oxford. The Hornets (5-2) handed Coatesville (8-1) its first loss of the season Wednesday night, 58-50.
Conestoga roared out of the gates against Villa Maria (5-3), jumping out to a 12-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, with 6-4 junior center Katie Mayock, 5-11 senior forward Emma Powell and 5-9 senior forward Liz Scott making their scoring and rebounding presence felt inside.
Pioneer head coach Chris Jeffries said, “Emma and Katie were impressive in the post tonight, but we also had great entry passes by [junior guard] Sarah Mascioli, [junior guard] Maria Koblish and Liz Scott, who is our best passer. … When you play a team like Villa Maria, who is scrappy on the outside, you try to do what you can on the inside.”
In the second quarter, Mayock pulled down a number of defensive rebounds to keep Villa Maria at bay, and the Pioneers led 23-11 at halftime. Mayock finished the night with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and through eight games is averaging 10.4 boards per game for the Pioneers.
“Katie has been averaging double-double for us this season – and she’s just scratching the surface of what she can do,” said Jeffries. “I was most pleased with our defense tonight. Our focus has been on the defensive end, and we held Villa Maria to 11 first-half points. If your defense is solid and your rebounding is good, you can win even on a night when your shooting is off.”
Conestoga continued its tough defense in the third quarter, and led 34-21 at the end of three quarters.
“Conestoga is a very solid team,” said Villa Maria head coach Kathy McCartney. “We came out flat at the beginning of the game. … We had some good looks at the basket, but we didn’t shoot well tonight, which puts a lot of pressure on our defense.”
McCartney added, “We have a young team, and I told our players that there’s going to be times [like tonight] when you face adversity, and that’s when you’ve got to battle back.”
Villa Maria outscored Conestoga 15-9 in the final period. For the Hurricanes, sophomore forward Abby Walheim finished with nine points, while freshman Morgan Warley scored eight.
Interestingly, Jeffries’ mother teaches at Villa Maria Academy.
“I’ve known Chris since he was 5 years old, when he was coming to our games,” said McCartney, now in her 31st year as Villa Maria head basketball coach.
Conestoga will face Oxford Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the West Chester Christmas Classic championship game at Hollinger Fieldhouse. Prior to the Conestoga-Villa Maria contest, the Hornets handed Coatesville its first defeat of the season, 58-50. Oxford led Coatesville 28-24 at halftime and the Hornets outscored the Red Raiders 11-6 in the third quarter to take a solid lead that they did not relinquish.
For Oxford, sophomore guard Miranda Porretta scored 24 points (including 3 treys), and junior guard Madeline Williams was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Oxford was 30-for-37 from the charity stripe Wednesday night.
Oxford head coach Brian Urig said, “In the second half, our players got to the right spots, got good looks at the basket and made their free throws. Miranda is always steady for us, and Maddy was great from the free throw line, but really, we got little bits and pieces from everyone tonight.”
For the Hornets, senior Emily Shallow, freshman Jaime Herrin and junior Hannah D’Aquanno combined for 18 points.
Coatesville’s big scorers Wednesday night were senior forward Brianna White (16 points) and senior guard Dee Dee Irwin (19 points). White and Irwin were a combined 16-for-20 from the free throw line.
Coatesville will face Villa Maria in the third-place game at Hollinger Fieldhouse Thursday at 6 p.m.