Berks Catholic falls 58-47 to Lancaster Catholic in District 3 4A title game

HERSHEY>> Berks Catholic came closest to knocking undefeated powerhouse Lancaster Catholic off its perch in the biggest regional game of the season.

But the Saints couldn’t close the deal.

Lancaster Catholic outscored the Saints by 13 in the final quarter to rescue a 58-47 verdict and with it, claim a second District 3 title in three seasons.

The same schools met two years ago in the last title game played in old 3A under the former 4-classification system, with the Crusaders winning that one as well. They also met earlier this season, back on Jan. 13 in Lancaster, with the Crusaders prevailing by a nearly-identical 57-45 score.

This time around, Lancaster Catholic came to Giant Center unbeaten in 26 tries. The Crusaders remained that way to move to 27-0, but it took an 18-5 fourth quarter to see it through.

Berks Catholic (21-5) rallied from a 34-24 halftime deficit with perhaps its finest quarter of ball this season, an 18-6 effort to take an improbable 42-40 lead through three quarters.

Perhaps the Saints’ smaller rotation bit them in the end — the seven-player outfit was clearly gassed during the final stanza. That, combined with Lancaster Catholic’s focused, opportunistic tenacity, shifted the balance back to the top-seeded Crusaders.

“I think we ran out of gas a little bit,” BC head coach Bob Birmingham said. “They’re running eight and nine, 10 kids in and we’re running (seven) in. So they’re going 10, we’re going seven kids. When you’re running on court 10 feet longer than you’re used to against the kind of full-court pressure for 32 minutes that they bring, yeah, I think it took its toll on us in the end.”

It was a wildly erratic game with no obvious tactical explanation. BC owned the first and third quarters; Lancaster Catholic, the second and fourth. The Saints got out to a 12-6 lead that settled at 15-11 after one. The Crusaders seemingly seized control with 23-9 second stanza dominance, but had that completely wiped out by BC’s 18-6 third-quarter response.

“I’m proud of the way we came back,” Birmingham said. “They had us down 10 at the break and we could have faltered or folded up. We came back and took a lead. I’m very proud that we did that and that we played in a district championship.”

The contest evolved into somewhat of a showdown between bigs Dejah Terrell of BC and LC’s Kiki Jefferson. Of similar height, build, ability and countenance, Terrell and Jefferson slugged it out for 32 minutes. Jefferson’s huge second half led her to a game-high 26 points. Terrell was sharper before the break, but like her teammates, lost some starch down the stretch. She finished with 16.

“They did a nice job of doubling (Terrell) from the weak side,” Birmingham said.

Jefferson and the Crusaders got a huge boost from senior swing Lauren Mills during the second quarter. Mills scored 11 points during the final 3:20 of the half (14 for the game), the sparkplug to seemingly taking control of the contest.

“Mills really hurt us during that quarter,” Birmingham said.

But BC rallied. It was a slow build: Terrell pounded her way inside to four trips to the charity stripe, hitting six of eight free throws. Jackie Kirwan and Molly Duncan got it rolling with a pair of 3-pointers. Suddenly, it was 42-40 from seemingly nowhere.

But Jefferson scored 11 of her 26 in the final eight minutes, overcoming a scary crash into the sideline press table earlier in the game with no apparent side effects.

BC could manage just two field goals, both by promising freshman Zariya Holt, in response. She finished with 12 points.

“I like the desire in Zarya and she’s just going to get better and better,” Birmingham said.

A close call, but no crown. The Saints’ head coach remained optimistic, as his club gears up for states.

“I thought we played them tough both times,” Birmingham said of BC’s slugfests with the Crusaders. “We lost by 12 at their place earlier but had cut it to seven in the fourth.

“Here, we came back again. We went after them and we played hard and we gave them everything they could handle. They (LC) answered the call and you have to give them credit.”

 

District 3 4A championship

at Giant Center, Hershey

Lancaster Catholic 58, Berks Catholic 47

Berks Catholic –  15  9  18  5 — 47

Lancaster Catholic – 11  23  6 18 — 58

Berks Catholic

Terrell 4 8-12 16, Holt 4 4-5 12, M Leininger 2 0-0 6, Kirwan 1 0-0 3, Gaffney 1 4-4 7, Duncan 1 0-0 3, S Leininger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 16-21 47.

3-pointers: 5 (M Leininger 2, Kirwan, Gaffney, Duncan).

Lancaster Catholic

Jefferson 8 10-13 26, Mills 5 2-2 14, Jaquis 1 4-4 7, Misel 2 0-3 4, Banks 1 2-4 4, Turner 1 0-0 3, Peris 0 0-0 0, Cannon 0 0-0 0, Matters 0 0-0 0, Nadu 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 18-26 58.

3-pointers: 4 (Mills 2, Jaquis, Turner)