Villa Maria too much for Phoenixville in District 1-5A opener

MALVERN >> The beat rolls on for third-seeded Villa Maria Academy. With the Hurricanes’ defensive pressure and talented depth, they are a force to be reckoned with under 29-year veteran head coach Kathy McCartney after Tuesday’s 44-19 victory over Phoenixville in the first round of the District 1-5A girls basketball playoffs.

Phoenixville, on the other hand, saw one of its best seasons in recent program history come to a close. The Phantoms will look to the future with some talented young players who have bought into the system presented by second-year head coach A.J. Thompson.

Phoenixville’s slow-down tactics worked in the first quarter as the Phantoms were within 5-4 of the Hurricanes after the first period. But after that start, Villa Maria took over the game.

The Hurricanes (17-6) led 18-6 at halftime and 34-10 at the close of three stanzas.

The Phantoms, from the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division, finished the year at 12-11 overall.

Villa Maria Academy advanced to the quarterfinal round, where it will face Penncrest, a 29-27 overtime winner over Bishop Shanahan. That contest will be played Friday in Malvern at 7 p.m.

“They (Phantoms) had a great start with the slowdown in the first quarter,” said McCartney. “But every time we scored, we turned them over. We put pressure on them, but they battled.”

Villa Maria’s pressure on defense created 17 first-half turnovers by Phoenixville.

Paige Lauder, a 6-1 sophomore forward, led the Hurricanes with 13 points. She made four field goals and shot 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Abby Walheim, a 5-10 junior, was next in line with eight points.

Jasmine Hamilton had seven points to lead visiting Phoenixville and Ameerah Green finished with six. Hamilton had three buckets and shot 1-for-2 at the foul line while Green hit three field goals.

Hamilton also pulled down nine rebounds and blocked two shots. Green had a pair of blocks and three rebounds

Peyton Graham played a strong all-around game in her final contest in a Phantom uniform. She finished with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Graham, Hamilton, Liberty Allain, along with Mackenzie Shoemaker and Saige Smith, are the five representatives of Phoenixville’s senior class.

“We knew coming in that for things to go our way would be on basics as much as possible,” said Thompson. “The first quarter we did do that. But they have 6-footers across the back. But we stayed them for a quarter, quarter and a half.

“They do their pressure. They are just so talented from top to bottom. They had some big offensive rebounds that led to easy baskets. It was tough to keep them off the boards the whole game.”

Villa Maria starts two juniors in 5-4 point guard Julia Samar and Abby Waldheim and three sophomores in 5-7 Morgan Warley, 5-10 Maddy Ryan (six points) and Lauder.

The Hurricanes add more height when 5-9 senior Lizzie Waldheim and 5-9 senior Kiera Broadhurst are on the court.

Samar and 5-4 senior guard Shannon Smith made 3-point field goals for the hosts.

“Give our girls credit,” Thompson said. “They played their tails off. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of girls.

“The young girls got a taste of it. It was a nice atmosphere with a lot of fans. If they work hard in the offseason, we can get back here again.”

Phoenixville got its first basket from Hannah Sands off an assist by Allain with 3:49 left in the first  quarter. The Phantoms’ other field goal in the first period was by Hamilton with a pass from Graham.