Olivia Matto and Hill School lock down Mercersburg Academy

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POTTSTOWN >> Hill School girls basketball coach Jen Weissbach was waiting for a moment to spring the press.

In a tight game with Mercersburg Academy Saturday at the Hill School, Weissbach thought a defensive shift might have a chance to change the game.

Alexa Giacche’s and-one basket early in the third quarter gave Weissbach the perfect opportunity. Her team energized and a made free throw, giving the Blues a chance to set up their full-court defense.

The move worked to perfection as the Hill held Mercersburg to just eight points in the second half, turning a tight contest into a one-sided affair on its way to a 61-30 home victory.

“The spark kind of came on Alexa Giacche had an and-one,” Weissbach said. “Then we called our full court man press after that to see if we could fluster them a little bit, see if we could get a quick turnover with their guards. We did a really nice job with that.”


The Hill’s (11-8) catalyst on the offensive end of the floor was guard Olivia Matto. The former Manheim Township standout is taking a prep year at the Hill.

Matto scored a game-high 22 points, including three 3-point shots. After doing most of her damage from outside to start the game, she made some strong drives to the basket down the stretch and also went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line in the second half.

“Thanks to my teammates, they were able to set screens and get me open, get me the ball and then the floor opened up,” Matto said. “The other team’s players, they had to guard Qiana (Vigo) tight and Alexa (Giacche) tight and everyone else was making shots, so that opened the floor because everyone else on the team was making shots.”

Matto hit two threes in the first quarter as Hill went up 20-14. Mercersburg slowed the Hill down in the second quarter, holding the Blues to eight points. However, the Blue Storm couldn’t get much offense of their own outside of Maria Weime, who finished with 15 points, and Mercersburg trailed 29-22 at halftime.


Matto led the Hill with 10 points at the half, while guard Qiana Vigo, who hit a three in the second quarter to give the Blues some separation, scored seven of her nine points before the break.

The third quarter started slowly until Giacche converted her one-and-one opportunity. The Hill held Mercersburg to just one basket in the first seven minutes of the third quarter and built up a 43-26 lead entering the fourth.

The strong defense continued into the final period as the Blues held Mercersburg off the scoreboard for the first four and one-half minutes of the quarter.

“At halftime, coach really hyped up our team, and we knew we had to come out and be strong and we really had a lot of energy,” Matto said. “Alexa Giacche got a one-and-one, and the bench was getting so hype.

“At the beginning of the game, we were in a zone press,” Matto added. “When we went to man, they really struggled and we started to get stops and turnovers, and it was really hard for them to get good shots.”

Not only did the Hill’s full-court pressure make it very difficult for Mercersburg to advance the ball down court, it also made it tough for the Blue Storm to get the ball inbounded.

During the momentum swing in the third quarter, the Hill forced two five-second calls.

“Getting a five-second call is purely an effort thing,” Weissbach said. “So I was really proud of our girls for responding, and it picked up the energy in the gym a little bit.”


Outside of Matto, Vigo finished with nine points, Giacche and Cynthia Williams added eight points, and Amelia Sniffin chipped in six points.

The Hill finishes its MAPL schedule against Hun School Wednesday. The team enters the game 2-2 in league play, and tournament seeding will depend on the outcome as well as some other results from around the league.

The Blues went into last year’s tournament as the No. 2 seed before falling to the Peddie School in the semifinals. Ideally, they will be playing their best basketball when this year’s tournament starts Feb. 8.

“We’re hoping to get back to the MAPL championship,” Weissbach said. “That’s always a goal for us. I think if we keep trending in the right direction, we’ll peak at the right time and it’ll be a fun tournament.”

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Owen McCue

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