PIAA-4A Semifinals: Casey leads Lansdale Catholic past Villa Maria and onto Hershey
BELLEFONTE >> A special dose of Gabby Casey along with a championship brand of defense in the fourth quarter paved the way to Hershey for the Lansdale Catholic girls basketball team on Saturday.
Casey weaved through traffic, hit threes from up top, and drove hard to the hoop to cap a 23-point performance, and the Crusaders blanked the hot-shooting Victors in the final minute to produce a thrilling 56-50 victory in the PIAA-4A Semifinals out at Bald Eagle High School.
“It’s amazing. No one ever expected us to come this far,” said Casey, who scored 11 points in the fourth. “It’s really the best feeling with the best team. We’re really enjoying it and taking in the moment.”
The win sends LC to the PIAA-4A Final Thursday out at the Giant Center in Hershey at 5 p.m., against Philadelphia Catholic League rival Archbishop Wood, a 57-44 winner over District 11 champ Jim Thorpe.
“I think we really stepped it up defensively,” Casey said, “and just the communication and really playing as a team (got it done for us). We were really patient on offense and I think that really opened up a lot of passing and allowed us to get the ‘W.”
“I’m just super proud of these kids,” said Crusaders coach Eric Gidney, who has guided the program to its first state-final berth. “We never lost our composure.”
Down by four entering the fourth, the Crusaders cut it to two on a weaving drive to the hoop by Casey.
Back and forth the two teams went, and then LC went ahead for the first time in the fourth on a drive by Casey, making it 45-43 with 3 minutes, 50 seconds to go.
The two squads then went shot for shot, three for three, battling back and forth until a three by LC’s Olivia Boccella provided a 51-48 edge with under two minutes remaining.
Many heroes emerged for the Crusaders, including Boccella, who finished with 15 points, including four 3-pointers.
The Crusaders clamped down on the shooters, leading to a missed three-point attempt by the Victors. Sanyiah Littlejohn calmly sank a pair of free throws for the Crusaders, making it 53-48 with 1:13 left.
Jayden McBride (13 points) hit two foul shots for the Victors to pull them within 53-50 with a minute to go, but Casey came through again, hitting a pair herself to extend LC’s lead to 55-50 with 50 seconds on the clock.
Another defensive rebound by the Crusaders allowed them to dribble out most of the remaining seconds, and another free throw by Littlejohn put it away.
The Crusaders, in the midst of their longest postseason run, are captained by Casey, along with two seniors in Erin Clark and Lauren Edwards.
“We’ve had them since I was a freshman and they’ve just been a huge part of the team,” Casey said of the senior duo. “They’re both great leaders and they just contribute a lot to the team.”
Casey’s contributions came in a wide variety as well.
“That was one of the things we talked about was how do we get some sets for her,” Gidney said. “We put in a lot of new sets in yesterday just for this moment. We did some different things and it really did free her up – there were times where she got into the lane with ease. She also made some circus shots, some very acrobatic layups.
“Establishing the backdoor cuts early in the game (was key). We got open look after open look, which put (Villa Maria) on their toes.”
From 2-11 in a COVID-shortened season in 2021 to a state-final appearance in 2022…
“We worked so hard for this,” Casey said, “being in the gym since April of last year. All the hard work is paying off but we still have one more to go.”
PIAA-4A Semifinals
Lansdale Catholic 56, Villa Maria 50
Villa Maria 8 17 13 12 – 50
LC 12 8 14 22 – 56
Villa: Lena Walz 3 0-0 9, Carissa Dunham 4 2-2 14, Daniela Shaughnessy 4 1-2 9, McKenna Valone 2 0-0 5, Jayden McBride 3 4-4 13. Totals 16 7-8 50.
LC: Olivia Boccella 5 1-2 15, Gabby Casey 8 5-6 23, Lauren Edwards 3 2-3 8, Sanyiah Littlejohn 1 3-4 5, Nadia Yemola 2 0-0 5. Totals 19 11-15 56.
3-pointers: V-Walz 3, Dunham 4, Valone, McBride 3; LC-Boccella 4, Casey 2, Yemola.
