Piotrowski leads Delco Christian into final
NEWTOWN SQUARE >> After the first three or four shots rimmed out, the dismay built in the face and the posture of Delco Christian forward Shirley Piotrowski.
Soon enough, the shots would start falling for her, thanks in large part to the passes the 6-2 senior forward received from teammates whose faith never waned.
Piotrowski scored 15 points, the only player to crack double-figures in a low-scoring and sloppy affair in the District 1 Class 2A semifinal, a 29-24 win over Bristol.
“At the beginning I was a little out of my rhythm, but as I started to get into it, I started to feel better,” Piotrowski said. “… Honestly, it’s just the energy from my teammates, hyping them up and them hyping me up. That’s what gets me going.”
With the win, No. 2 seed DC advances to the March 3 District final against the winner of top-seeded Sacred Heart and No. 4 Calvary Christian. That game at Council Rock South will determine District 1’s lone states representative.
Emily Mothersil the cross-court dime to Lebaudy, and it spins home. After 3, 21-16 @thedcknights pic.twitter.com/9Fui6jq7db
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) February 23, 2018
Piotrowski turned it on after halftime with nine of her 15 coming after the break, at which Delco Christian led 11-10 in an offensively-challenged opening 16 minutes. Even through the first-half scuffles, Piotrowski managed to keep her head in the game, and the tide eventually turned.
“We just can’t let anything get in our heads,” point guard Monica Lebaudy said. “We just give everyone constant encouragement to stay positive.”
Lebaudy provided the spark in the third quarter. The visiting Warriors went from the start of the second to the 2:25 mark of the third without a basket. The resulting 10-0 DC run qualified as decisive.
Lebaudy scored all five of her points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer at 4:55 that marked the first points for either side in the frame and a buzzer-beating lay-up after Emily Mothersil found her with a cross-court feed.
Emily Mothersil scored six points to go with three blocks. She pulled down a pair of vital offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, one a second-chance bucket off a missed free throw by Shekinah Yanes and another when Lebaudy missed the front-end of a one-and-one for Motherstil to hit one from the line.
“That was huge. Both Emily and Janae (Johns), I give them each credit,” Piotrowski said. “They were fighting for the ball the whole time, being physical and getting rebounds, and they really propelled our team.”
Bristol, which dressed just eight players, struggled to get much going. DeeDee McMillan scored eight points, and Hailey Sweeney and Kendall Lewis provided six each.
