O’Hara puts on a clinic in disposing of Easton

SOUDERTON >> If Cardinal O’Hara is going to win the PIAA Class AAAA championship, it will use Tuesday night’s second-round game as the model.

Play this way, and good things will happen.

The Lions ran their sets and screens like something out of a basketball how-to video. They put on a show against District 11 third-place finisher Easton Area High School at Souderton.

Hannah Nihill engineered a stellar effort by the Lions, who claimed a 56-36 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round of states. O’Hara meets Garnet Valley, the sixth-place team from District One, in an all-Delaware County showdown Friday night.

The Lions had success driving the lane and getting looks at easy baskets. Whether it was a Nihill floater or a Kenzie Gardler pull-up jumper or a Mary Sheehan layup, the Lions made the Red Rovers pay, time and again, with their aggressive approach.

“When we did our rotations, we would pass to our open teammates and I think that caught them off guard, so it would open the lane some,” Gardler said.

“We were creating open shots for our teammates, too,” Nihill added. “We just kept playing our game.”

That was apparent in the second quarter when Sheehan took over, the do-everything junior torching the Red Rovers (24-6) for 11 of her game-high 20 points. The Lions (24-3) outscored the Rovers, 15-3, to take a commanding 26-12 lead into halftime.

“If some of us aren’t making shots, we found the person that was,” said Gardler, who added 15 points, three assists and two steals. “If we play like that, I think we can go pretty far.”

Let's try again: @OHaraGirlsBball's Hannah Nihill goes to the basket and gets two in the 3Q of tonight's 56-36 win pic.twitter.com/5Mp18mIdU6

— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) March 9, 2016

Sheehan did her damage driving the lane and under the basket, but she also hit a 3-pointer to spark the Lions’ second-quarter run. The best point guard in Delco, Nihill (15 points, four rebounds, three steals, two steals) was a playmaker all night, helping create those opportunities for her buddy Sheehan. An 11-0 run gave the Lions a 20-9 advantage.

“A lot of the time when the outside shot isn’t falling, you want to go inside to get the high-percentage shots. We did that really well tonight,” said Sheehan, who was 4-for-7 from the floor in the second period. “We got the exact looks that we were trying to get and we were able to finish them, too. When that’s happening, I feel like we’re a really hard team to stop. If you are hitting those inside shots, there’s no need to take the outside shots. We had a few here and there throughout the night, but we didn’t force anything, especially in the second half when we had that big lead. We were pretty patient and took some good shots on almost every possession.”

It took a few minutes for the Lions to find their groove, trailing 4-0 in the early minutes, but once they lit the fire there was no turning back. While Sheehan played a big role, Nihill, Gardler, Maura Hendrixson and Molly Paolino were all fantastic on defense and the Lions began to wear the Red Rovers down with their transition game in the second quarter.

“Once you see the ball go in once, you start to get that confidence,”Sheehan said. “I know I missed three or four shots in the first quarter. So at the beginning of the second quarter, I knew I had to get one. I think I drove, actually, and missed the shot but got my own rebound and put it back. Hannah, Mackenzie, Maura and Molly … they do a great job at finding you when you’re hot.”

Gardler scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half.

The Lions again played a team that held a size advantage. But center Leanna Deegan (six points, seven rebounds) was largely a non-factor for the Rovers. And although guard Gabby Bloshuk netted seven of her team-high 11 points in the third quarter, the Lions did thwart Easton’s momentum at the right moments.

“(Blashak) was obviously their shooter and she’s pretty good. She can drive, too, so we had to help each other,” Gardler said. “They also had bigs, so we had to box out and I think we did a pretty good job at boxing out. Toward the end we let some rebounds go, but for the majority of the time we boxed out and played really good team defense, and that really helped us.”

O’Hara lost the rebounding battle, 23-22, but it didn’t matter. With two minutes and change to play in the third quarter, the Lions had committed only one turnover, while they had forced Easton to lose possession on 11 trips down the floor. The Lions started to get sloppy with the ball late in the third period, enabling Easton to get within nine points. But Nihill hit a floater in the waning seconds, and Hendrixson drained a 3-pointer early in the fourth to put the Lions back in full control.

O’Hara shot 46.5 percent (20-for-43) from the floor and committed just five turnovers.

“We really played as a team this game,” Gardler said. “We had a great plan and tonight it really showed.”