ALTOONA — It’s not a good idea to go completely cold in the first quarter of a PIAA Tournament game against the defending state champions.
Yet that is exactly what happened to the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy girls on Saturday, March 15, in their season-ending, 66-48 loss to Bishop Guilfoyle in the state quarterfinals at Altoona High School.
The WolfPack and BG squared off in the highly anticipated matchup after both teams won their first and second round games and with the winner of this one moving just one game away from the PIAA Championship Game in Hershey.
But the Marauders came out firing, and the WolfPack couldn’t buy a basket. Literally.
SJCA scored just 2 points in the opening quarter, on two foul shots by Naomi Crispin, while Guilfoyle was nailing five 3-pointers and piling up 24 points.
The 22-point lead was more than enough to propel BG to the 66-48 win and on to the PIAA Semifinal against archrival Bishop Carroll out of Johnstown.
SJCA settled down into its normal self-beginning in the second quarter — the ‘Pack actually outscored the Marauders the rest of the way — but the damage had been done.
Saint Joseph’s held BG to just nine points in the second quarter and cut the lead to an almost manageable 33-16 after two threes by Crispin and another by Alexia Luckovich.
Crispin stayed hot into the second half and scored 13 of the team’s 19 points in the third quarter, but BG was able to keep up with 19 points as well.
Now ahead 52-35 going into the final period, Guilfoyle matched baskets with the scrambling WolfPack and played out its 28th win of the season against just two losses.
For SJCA, Crispin finished with 25 points, Aubrey Yartz added 13 and Luckovich scored 7.
The team made it to the quarterfinal after a tough, 51-42 victory over 9-1 DuBois Central Catholic in the Second Round at Bald Eagle High School on Wednesday, March 12.
The WolfPack led by just 2 points going into the fourth quarter, but Lauren Himes sank two 3-pointers and Crispin and Yartz combined for 10 points as they outscored DuBois down the stretch, 16-9, for the win.
Crispin led with 19 points, followed by Luckovich and Yartz with 10 each and Himes with 9.
The loss to Guilfoyle ended the season for SJCA with a final record of 26-3 overall and 14-0 in the Tri-Valley Conference.
But do not feel too bad for the ‘Pack because they graduate just one senior from this team and have Crispin, Yartz, Luckovich, Himes and Jacee Cunningham, among others, all returning for another season in 2025-26.
