Spring-Ford girls basketball rolls over Dallastown in opening round of PIAA tournament

ROYERSFORD >> The Spring-Ford girls basketball team was comfortable on Friday, and with good reason.

With many carryovers from the 2021 team that went to the state final, as well as last year’s PIAA quarterfinals, the Rams entered the 2022-23 state tournament with plenty of postseason past to drawn upon.

That experience was shown in full force via a 55-27 win over District 3 and YAIAA champion Dallastown — the first meeting between both programs, per Spring-Ford athletics — in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament at Spring-Ford High School.

The Rams (25-5) will take on Cardinal O’Hara, a 50-42 winner over Conestoga in the round of 16 on March 14, time and location TBD.

“I think it’s pretty pivotal because I think we’ve got a lot to show people, including what we can do with our skill set,” Spring-Ford guard Mac Pettinelli said. “Getting back here compared to freshman year, my freshman year we were really senior-heavy, so I think this year, if we can get far and past these rounds, it’ll be pivotal for us because we’ve gotta prove a lot to other teams.”

FINAL — Spring-Ford 55, Dallastown 27

Rams unload in the opening round of the PIAA 6A tournament and will take the winner between Cardinal O’Hara and Conestoga on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/7qsSJxJ7Pe

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) March 11, 2023

Pettinelli — who broke the Spring-Ford individual season assists record with 145 heading into the state tournament — took the driver’s seat in scoring with a game-high 13 points. Junior guard Katie Tiffan added 10.

Spring-Ford pieced together a 17-point run that began midway through the first quarter and carried it through much of the second frame.

Four different players — Meg Robbins (7 points), Tiffan, Anna Azzara (6 points) and Lilly Brescia (6 points) — all accounted for eight unanswered points, taking an 18-9 lead through the first eight minutes.

“Coach (Mickey McDaniel) sat us down before the game and told us we just really have to push the ball and keep our energy up, stay really hype on the floor and off the floor,” Pettinelli said. “I think it was us really working together and pushing the ball and moving fast, getting up 17, which is really good for us, and having high energy.”

Pettinelli and Brescia opened the second quarter with back-to-back buckets in transition, prompting a Wildcats (19-11) timeout. Kareena Preuss (5 points) then tacked on five straight points, including a 3-pointer, to cap the 17-point swing.

Dallastown was unable to make a field goal in the second quarter, disrupted by a stingy Rams squad that outscored the Wildcats 13-1 to fuel a commanding 31-10 halftime advantage.

“When we could play them five-on-five on defense, we were pretty good. It’s when we turn the ball over and in transition, for us, the turnovers and transition are what killed us,” seventh-year Dallastown coach Jay Rexroth said. “Even in the second quarter, transition off the turnovers was the difference.

“And obviously (Spring-Ford is) very, very good. Much more talented than us, well coached, just a really good team.”

Q2, 3:50 — Kareena Preuss has five straight points, Spring-Ford is on a 9-0 run this quarter.

That’s after an 8-0 run to end the first.

Spring-Ford 27, Dallastown 9 pic.twitter.com/o2HlBuqemi

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) March 11, 2023

The Rams continued to lay the foundation up to a 46-19 lead through three quarters and led by as much as 30 in the fourth as the running clock was enacted.

While Spring-Ford played with plenty of armor on the scoreboard, that didn’t stop big-play opportunities for the Rams’ bench. Sophia Allocca broke out with all six of her points in the closing minutes of the game while the rest of the ranks checked in to get some time on the floor.

“Our connection on and off the court helps us the whole game,” Azzara said. “We know where we’re gonna be, we know each other’s strengths, we play our own roles and get it together as a team.”

Dallastown was led by Harper Poff (7 points) while 6-foot sophomore Praise Matthews and power forward Kiara McNealy — both YAIAA Division I second team selections — added four and three points, respectively.

“It’s an over-achieving group. We weren’t even picked to finish the top three in our division, yet we won the county and finished top four in districts and went to states,” Rexroth said. “This group is super resilient, at one point we were 4-5 … I’m super proud of the kids. I told them we were gonna celebrate in the locker room either way.”

With a 57-43 win for PAC Liberty rival Perkiomen Valley over Red Lion, along with the Vikings being in the same upper half of the PIAA bracket, both teams are two wins away from potentially meeting for a fifth time this season.

But the Rams aren’t getting ahead of themselves and are looking squarely on a capable District 12 champion that’s won over 20 games this season and has been a historical pain for Spring-Ford, ending their season in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

“We know it’s win or go home,” Azzara said.” We can’t let that go and we gotta give it our all, all four quarters.”

Spring-Ford 55, Dallastown 27

Dallastown: Ellis 0 0-0 0; Zeigler 0 0-0 0; Good 0 0-0 0; Kelley 1 0-0 3; McNealy 1 1-2 3; Snyder 0 0-0 0; O’Neill 1 0-0 3; Poff 2 2-2 7; H. Jamison 1 1-3 4; Matthews 2 0-2 4; A. Jamison 1 1-1 3. Totals: 9 5-10 27
Spring-Ford: Brescia 3 0-0 6; Preuss 2 0-0 5; Allocca 3 0-1 6; Miller 1 0-0 2; Azzara 3 0-0 6; K. Tiffan 4 0-0 10; C. Tiffan 0 0-0 0; VanDerzee 0 0-0 0; Pettinelli 6 1-1 13; Quinn 0 0-0 0; Prophet 0 0-0 0; Robbins 2 3-4 7. Totals: 24 4-6 55
3-point goals: Kelley, O’Neill, Poff, H. Jamison, Preuss, K. Tiffan 2