GIRLS BASKETBALL: Katie Tiffan’s 2nd-quarter run sparks Spring-Ford in PIAA-6A 2nd-round win over Peters Township

WINGATE – The Spring-Ford girls’ basketball team spent most of the first half chasing Peters Township until Kate Tiffan provided the Rams with an offensive burst, sending them into the break with a lead they never gave back up Tuesday night.

“I felt pretty good about that,” Tiffan said. “I feel like if you see the ball go in then you feel pretty confident about yourself.

Tiffan scored the last 12 points of the second quarter – the senior guard knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to cut Peters Township’s advantage to 27-26 before hitting a jumper to put Spring-Ford ahead for the first time in the PIAA Class 6A second-round contest at Bald Eagle Area High School.

She added a putback for a three-point edge and in the half’s final moments missed inside but grabbed the rebound and was fouled – connecting on both free throws with 1.5 seconds to make it 35-27 Rams after 16 minutes of play.

“Katie’s like everyone else on this team, they’re a competitor,” said Spring-Ford coach Mickey McDaniel of Tiffan, who had 18 points at halftime. “And she wants to do so good and she just will battle you. And she’s had to play normally the best offensive player on the other team throughout the year and then we’re asking her to score on top of that and rebound. And she’s taken that role very seriously and done a really nice job with it.”

The Rams extended the run by scoring the first seven points of the third, increasing their lead to 12. Back-to-back threes had Peters Township within six but Spring-Ford answered by going back up a dozen and from there the margin never dipped into single digits, the Rams pulling away to earn a 74-53 victory.

“I feel like we just wanted the guaranteed win,” Spring-Ford senior guard Aaliyah Solliday said. “We didn’t want a close, nail-biter game. We wanted to play our game and show them who we really were.”

Solliday was one of four Rams to score in double figures, collecting 12 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth as the Spring-Ford (25-6), the District 1 runner-up, advances to face District 7 champion Norwin – a 56-47 winner over (7-4) Chartiers Valley – in the quarterfinals Friday at a site and time to be announced.

“I feel like my teammates are always good at looking up the floor, seeing who’s up there and I just happened to be up there today,” Solliday said.

Tiffan finished with 21 points while Kareena Preuss scored nine of her 13 points in the third, including a putback that dropped in at the buzzer for a 52-38 Rams lead. Anna Azzara added 10 points.

“When we were down in the beginning that didn’t stop us from playing our game,” Tiffan said. “So once we just kept seeing the ball go in the basket and scoring then we really felt good about ourselves.”

Gemma Walker paced Peters Township (24-3) – in states for the first time since winning the 6A title in 2019 – with 24 points, 10 coming in the fourth for the Saint Francis University commit. Natalie Wetzel, a 6-foot-3 junior, chipped in 14 points.

“The main thing was we didn’t want them into executing their offense cause they run a very good offense and when they execute they’re tough to stop,” McDaniel said. “So we had to try to take things away, what we call impure possessions – that’s either through a deflection or we force ‘em away from the basket, now you got to either restart your offense or it takes you farther out and that’s what we were trying to accomplish with them.”

Peters Township led by as much as eight points twice in the second quarter – the second time at 25-16 after a Bri Morreale 3-pointer. Azzara posted the next two buckets to make it 24-20 before a 3-point play by Daniela Radulovich had the Indians up 27-20 with 4:25 remaining in the half.

But Tiffan ripped off the next 12 to make it 32-27 Rams at the break. Spring-Ford extended the run to 19-0 – Preuss opening the third with a trey while baskets from Holliday and Azzara gave the Rams a 39-27 lead.

“Once we had that lead I felt like we still didn’t back down,” Tiffan said. “And we still kept driving to the basket and taking good shots.

Threes from Walker then Wetzel pulled Peters Township within 39-33 only for consecutive buckets from Preuss then two Solliday free throws at 2:00 giving the Rams back a 12-point advantage.

The Indians cut the deficit down to 10 twice, the last time at 48-38 on a Wetzel triple before Solliday scored on a drive and Preuss’ buzzer-beater made it 52-38 entering the fourth.

A Solliday basket to begin the final quarter had the Rams up 16. A Tiffan 3-pointer made it 61-42 with another two from Solliday putting Spring-Ford ahead 20 at 63-43. A pair of Preuss free throws with 1:33 left had the Rams leading 69-48.

Spring-Ford 72, Peters Township 53

Spring-Ford 13 19 20 22 – 72

Peters Township 17 10 11 15 – 53

Spring-Ford: Aaliyah Solliday 9 1 4-4 25; Katie Tiffan 5 3 2-2 21; Kareena Preuss 3 1 4-6 13; Anna Azzara 4 0 2-3 10;     Mac Pettinelli 1 1 0-0 5; Totals 22 6 12-15 74.

Peters Township: Gemma Walker 5 2 8-9 24; Natalie Wetzel 4 2 0-0 14; Bri Morreale 0 2 0-0 6; Peri Cendroski 0 1 0-0 3; Melanah Khalil; Daniela Radulovich 1 0 1-1 3; Totals 10 8 9-10 53.