Gwynedd Mercy shuts down Greencastle-Antrim in PIAA AAA 2nd round

HERSHEY >> As prolific a three-point shooting team as you’ll find, Greencastle-Antrim could seldom find an open shot from anywhere, as Gwynedd-Mercy Academy put the Blue Devils’ offense in a vice, squeezing out a 39-22 victory that sends GMA to the State Quarterfinals in Class AAA.

“Defense won the game for us,” said Monarchs senior forward Erica DeCandido, instrumental in the second-round win. “Mary Claire (Casey), Danielle (Senour), Maggie (Cameron), Brigit (Coleman) — all did a great job. Everything came from our defense.”

Many heroes emerged for Gwynedd, which moves on to face powerful Archbishop Wood on Saturday. The Monarchs blew the game open in the third quarter, forcing the Blue Devils into awkward shots and propelling the Monarchs’ transition game.

“We knew three of their players never come out,” DeCandido said. “By getting out and running, we could start to see them kind of wearing down.”

A layup by Coleman got GMA started in the third quarter. After another defensive stop, DeCandido saved a loose ball at the offensive end — knocking it off the leg of a Blue Devil defender — and then moments later Coleman stole a little bit of Greencastle’s three-point magic and knocked down one of her own, pushing the Monarch lead to 27-13.

Junior Jenay Faulkner, who had hit 99 three-pointers this season and has already verbally committed to play at Division I Holy Cross, could not get free. The defense by Casey and Senour — who each guarded Faulkner at different times — was so stifling that the Blue Devils’ premier player was held to just a single point.

Cameron, meanwhile, was busy blanketing Hannah Crist, holding Greencastle-Antrim’s No. 2 weapon to just seven points.

The Blue Devils, a team that twice hit the 70-point plateu this season, hadn’t been held under 30 all year.

“We feel we’re one of the better defensive teams in the state,” Lonergan said, “especially when we’re clicking.”

Coleman brought down 10 rebounds, giving further control to GMA.

DeCandido scored a game-high 16 points for Gwynedd, with Coleman adding 14. Coleman closed out the third quarter by driving, penetrating, then pulling up for a short jumper, boosting the Monarchs’ lead to 39-19.
The fourth quarter would just be academic.

In the opening stages, Greencastle-Antrim had jumped out to a 7-0 lead, with both Meghan Hirneisen and Crist hitting early threes.

But from there, the Monarchs guarded Blue Devil shooters tightly around the perimeter and made it difficult for Faulkner to find a path to the basket.

“I like the fact that we were able to calm down,” Lonergan said. “You could see the jitters — we had some turnovers early but had very few turnovers the rest of the game. So I think it was good for us to get all of that out of our system, our pressure got to (Greencastle) and we were able to get going in the full-court game.”

The Monarchs got going with defense and transition, spurred by DeCandido. The senior forward scored seven first-quarter points, including the basket — coming on a fast break — that gave GMA its first lead of the contest at 9-8.

Coleman’s drive to the hoop provided the Monarchs a 13-11 edge heading into the second quarter and GMA’s defense would clamp down even tighter on Greencastle’s struggling attack.

The Monarchs were out-rebounding and out-hustling the Blue Devils to loose balls, and when Cameron scored off a putback early in the second, GMA was suddenly ahead by seven at 20-13.

Madison Sherrill scored the Blue Devils’ only two points of the period, which would end with a jumper by Carly Heineman giving the Monarchs a 22-13 advantage at the break.

The second half would belong to Gwynedd, which earned this victory within shouting distance of the Giant Center, site of the State Final.

“This was nice,” DeCandido said of the trip to the spacious Spartan Center, “but we want to come back to Hershey.”