Perkiomen Valley avoids letdown after district title, runs past Red Lion in PIAA 6A first round

GRATERFORD >> Less than a week ago, the Perkiomen Valley girls basketball team was playing in front of a big crowd at a college arena, basking in the biggest moment of their high school careers and reveling in raising the District 1 championship trophy.

“Cloud nine,” as Lena Stein puts it. “Since we were on cloud nine coming off (winning the district championship), it’s hard to get back into it. We have to stay humble and keep focusing on the little things.”

Winning a district title offers a unique challenge: go from cloud nine to square one.

Fortunately for the Vikings, they avoided a potential trap back at home Friday night in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A Championships with a 57-43 victory over Red Lion to advance to the round of 16.

The Vikings (28-1) move on to meet District 12 third-place Archbishop Carroll, a 50-37 winner over Neshaminy on Friday, in a second-round matchup Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Sophomore point guard Bella Bacani scored a team-high 18 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter that gave PV its first double-digit lead. A balanced Perk Valley performance had four players with nine or more points, including Quinn Boettinger (10), Grace Galbavy (9) and Stein (9).

Red Lion, the District 3 sixth-place team, got 18 points from senior Bhrooke Axe. The Lions’ season concluded with an 18-10 record.
Perkiomen Valley and Red Lion met in their respective second games of the season and the Vikings dominated in a 73-35 win on Dec. 3.

“We played Red Lion before and knew they were going to come out stronger than the last time we played them,” said PV sophomore guard Julia Smith, who scored six points.

Red Lion acquitted itself much better than the early-season meeting, but still were unable to keep pace with the Pioneer Athletic Conference champs.

“When you make a mistake, they make you pay for it,” said longtime Red Lion coach Dom Dimoff. “Most teams you have somewhere where you can target a weakness, but here tonight we had to pick our poison. We doubled-down on the post which made (Boettinger) have to work hard but it opened up some kick outs and made us scramble.”

Perk Valley led 11-5 after a quarter, which is where the lead hovered until Bacani knocked down two consecutive 3s, the second coming with 2:28 until halftime, to open a 24-12 lead, which is where the margin stayed at the break (26-14).

“They have size, they have shooters, but their transition game is really where they beat everybody,” Dimoff said of PV.

Smith knocked down a corner 3 for a 32-18 lead midway through the third and the Vikings continued to inch further away from the Lions, going up 20 for the first time at 43-23 on a pair of Boettinger free throws with 7:48 remaining.

“I think they were really crucial,” Smith said of PV’s well-timed 3-pointers. “And the crowd really getting into it gives us a lot of momentum. Making those 3s, high-fiving each other, picking each other up is such good momentum.”

The Lions mounted a rousing comeback bid with a 10-0 run to get within nine points after a Kamauri Gordon-Bey 3, but Bacani ended the run on a pair of free throws and her steal-and-score with 1:06 left effectively ended the contest.

“We played them early in the year and I’ve watched them: they always make a run once or twice a game and that’s what they did,” Dimoff said. “We cut it to a nine-point game from a 20-point game. The problem was we let it get to a 20-point game.”

Stein limited Grace Masser, who scored 19 in the previous meeting, to three points Friday.

“We knew we needed to shut that down,” Stein said. “I couldn’t let anything easy for her, no easy 3s.”

Coincidentally, the last time Perk Valley entered the state playoffs as District 1 champion, it defeated Red Lion, 60-50, back in 2016.

Perkiomen Valley capped an unbeaten season on its home floor, a venue that hosted victories in the PAC championship in District 1 semifinals, both wins over Spring-Ford. Making sure lone senior Ella Stein (3 points) didn’t go out with a home loss was a rallying cry.

“For my sister, her being a captain and the last home game, we had to do it for her,” Lena Stein said. “Seeing the crowd, it was so amazing. You love to see it.”

It’s neutral venues from here on out and Perkiomen Valley knows the competition only strengthens from here.

“Nothing is going to come easy, at all,” Stein said.

Perkiomen Valley 57, Red Lion 43

Red Lion: Virata 2 0-2 4, Carr 1 2-4 4, Masser 1 0-0 3, Sechrist 2 0-0 5, Gordon-Bey 3 0-0 7, Axe 6 5-8 18, C Carr 1 0–0 2. Totals 16 7-14 43.
Perkiomen Valley: A Stein 1 0-0 2, Bacani 6 4-4 18, Smith 2 1-1 6, L Stein 4 0-0 9, Fowler 0 0-0 0, Boettinger 2 6-8 10, Galbavy 3 3-6 9. Totals 18 17-23 57.
3-pointers: RL-Masser, Sechrist, Gordon-Bey, Axe; PV-Bacani 2, Smith, L Stein.