Lansdale Catholic shares the wealth in win over Agnes Irwin in George W. Snear Tournament

CONSHOHOCKEN >> Gabby Casey dribbled with purpose along the baseline, eyes up as she neared the basket with defenders coming her way.

Instead of forcing up a shot, the Lansdale Catholic freshman whipped a pass to the opposite side of the lane, giving Mia Rosenberger a wide-open jump shot early in the third quarter Thursday night. It wasn’t the first helper of the night for the Crusaders and it wouldn’t be the last as they assisted 20 of their 27 field goals on the opening night of the George W. Snear Holiday Tournament.

LC’s giving mood propelled it to a 71-33 win over Agnes Irwin to advance to Friday’s final at the Fellowship House.

“We’re getting better with it and I feel like we can do even more with it,” LC junior guard Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, who added three assists to her 16 points, said. “Moving the ball and getting the ball in everyone’s hands opens up the floor for everyone and that’s how we get a lot of our buckets.”

Lansdale Catholic, which won its seventh game in a row, got the passing going on the first possession of the game. Casey, who had a monster all-around game, made a skip pass from the right corner to the left wing where Riley DiVitis buried a wide-open 3-pointer.

DiVitis, the only other returning starter alongside Lewis-Eutsey, led LC with 20 points and was a major beneficiary of the team’s passing. The guard connected on 4-of-6 shots behind the arc, most of them so open she probably had enough time to pen a thank-you note to the teammate who passed it to her.

It’s easy for teams to create assists in transition and LC got plenty of chances thanks to its defense.

“We’ve been really focusing on how defensive energy really creates opportunity on the offensive end,” LC coach Eric Gidney said. “It just wears teams down and we feed off of that. They’re seeing that defense creates offense. We are an offensive team, these girls like to push the ball and score but they’re starting to realize we do that much more effectively when we’re aggressive on the defensive end.”

Casey had six steals in the first quarter while Lewis-Eutsey had two as LC closed the frame on a 13-0 run to take a 22-4 lead into the second quarter. Before tweaking her ankle after landing awkwardly on a drive with six seconds left in the third quarter, Casey gave the Crusaders five points, nine rebounds, eight assists, nine steals and two blocks. Gidney said the freshman would be a likely game-time decision on Friday but didn’t think her injury was much worse than a minor sprain.

Lauren Edwards was the third Crusader into double-digits, scoring 15 points with seven rebounds and three assists while seven total players scored and seven chipped in at least one assist. LC also did a lot of damage in the lane and the midrange area, with Lewis-Eutsey and Casey’s downhill drives to the basket leading to a lot of passes to open players when the defense got sucked in.

“If we go down into the lane, we’re strong enough to finish but if the defense collapses, there’s always a kick-out and I trust my teammates are going to make their shot,” Lewis-Eutsey said. “It’s all communication and we’re still trying to work on it, but it’s all about knowing personnel as a team so communication is very big for us.”

A put-back at Edwards, one of the few unassisted field goals, beat the halftime buzzer for a 39-15 Crusader lead. Casey’s baseline drive and dish to Rosenberger came early in the third, she assisted a DiVitis trey and the freshman finished off two buckets, both assisted, late in the quarter before her injury as LC pushed its lead as large as 30.

The Crusaders, who have already picked up a key PCL win over Bonner & Prendergast, played well on Thursday but want to see that type of effort become the standard. A PIAA 4A playoff team last year, Lewis-Eutsey said the goal is to get back and improve on last year’s second round exit.

“We’ve had glimpses, but I don’t know if we’ve put together 32 minutes of that,” Gidney said. “We tend to be a team that likes to catch, drive and create opportunities and today led by the efforts to Timaya and Gabby, we really moved the ball well. We need to realize teams are going to watch us, focus on our better players and that will give our leading scorers like Riley, Timaya and Gabby chances to get assists.”

Lansdale Catholic will face Council Rock South in Friday night’s final at 7:30. The Crusaders, the defending tournament champion, may not produce the same percentage of assisted baskets but will look to keep playing off each other as they’ve done all season.

“We definitely feed off each other, that’s why we always try to stay in high spirits no matter how the game’s going,” Lewis-Eutsey. “That makes it easier to come out and perform the way we do.”

Council Rock South 31, Norristown 23

The Eagles started out well, zipping out to an 8-0 lead but a mixture of turnovers and stagnant offense cost them a chance to reach the Snear tournament finals.

Neither team shot the ball well as a 13-13 tie evolved only into a 15-15 deadlock before Norristown’s Tay Wright hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the third. Golden Hawks center Hannah Binder scored two post buckets around a steal and score by Karissa Smedley in the final 1:03 as CR South went ahead for good.

A 6-0 run by Council Rock South after Norristown, which does not have a senior on the roster, pulled within 21-20 essentially iced the game. Binder’s 10 points led all scorers while Tiann Byrd paced the Eagles with seven points.

Norristown will face Agnes Irwin in the consolation game Friday night at 6 p.m.

LANSDALE CATHOLIC 71, AGNES IRWN 33
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 22 17 17 15 – 71
AGNES IRWIN 4 11 9 9 – 33
Lansdale Catholic: Timaya Lewis-Eutsey 7 2-4 16, Mia Rosenberger 2 1-2 5, Lauren Edwards 4 7-8 15, Gabby Casey 2 1-1 5, Riley DiVitis 7 2-4 20, Erin Clark 2 0-0 4, Autumn Weber 3 0-0 6, Cassidy Saulino 0 0-1 0. Totals: 27 13-20 71
Agnes Irwin: Katie Anderson 6 5-6 17, Paige Crowther 0 1-2 1, Caroline Vauclain 0 1-2 1, Amelia Leyden 2 2-2 6, Chole Saulnier 1 0-0 2, Sarah McCarthy 0 1-2 1, Belle Fusco 1 0-0 2, Blake Stefan 1 0-2 2, Kelly Cooper 0 1-2 1. Totals: 11 11-18 33.
3-pointers: LC – DiVitis 4.

COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 31, NORRISTOWN 23
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 2 11 8 10 – 31
NORRISTOWN 8 5 5 5 – 23
CRS: Jenna Culp 1 1-8 4, Nicole Blaustein 3 2-2 9, Carley Irvin 0 2-4 2, Hannah Binder 5 0-0 10, Kim Speiser 0 2-2 2, Karissa Smedley 2 0-0 4, Riana Szydilk 0 0-2 0. Totals: 11 7-18 31/
N: Sai Evans 2 0-0 4, Tay Wright 2 1-4 6, Tiann Byrd 2 2-4 7, Ryan Morse 2 0-0 4, D’monae Daniels 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 3-8 23.
3-pointers: CRS – Culp, Blaustein; N – Wright, Byrd