CENTRE COUNTY — It is fitting that four girls teams from the District 6, Single-A Division will qualify to play in the PIAA Tournament in 2025.
Those four teams — No. 1 Bishop Guilfoyle, No. 2 SJCA, No. 3 Bishop Carroll and No. 4 Williamsburg — have been tearing up their schedules all season. They have a combined record of 76-12 with Guilfoyle coming in at 20-1 and SJCA at 21-1.
The semifinal round had Guilfoyle matched with Williamsburg and Carroll took on SJCA.
For the Lady WolfPack, the Carroll game was a chance to make up for their only loss of the season–a 57-52 loss at Carroll on Dec. 27, 2024.
Unfortunately, it was not to be.
For the Lady WolfPack, it was a matter of one bad quarter and a furious, late rally that fell just short.
After falling behind Carroll by six points at halftime, SJCA couldn’t find the basket in the third quarter as the Lady Huskies added 13 points to their lead and doggedly held on for a 68-63 victory.
Saint Joe’s found itself down 56-37 heading into the final eight minutes but led by Naomi Crispin’s 14 points (and 27 overall), the WolfPack mounted a comeback.
They outscored Carroll 26-12 down the stretch, but in the end, the Huskies got just enough out of high scorer Adelyn Myers to hold on for their 18th win of the season.
Crispin’s 27 led SJCA, and she was followed by Aubrey Yartz with 17 and Lauren Himes with 12.
The loss, just the team’s second of the year, is hardly the end for the WolfPack.
They will now meet No. 4 Williamsburg for the second time this year in the No. 3-4 seeding game on Thursday, Feb. 27, at Juniata High School.
The first meeting between the two teams was on January 17 in Williamsburg and ended in a wild 75-72 victory for Saint Joe’s. Crispin scored a season-high 40 points as her team improved its record to 15-1.
Now the teams will meet to decide the seeding and opponent for the PIAA Tournament. The winner will face the No. 2 seed from the WPIAL in the First Round on Saturday, March 8, and the loser will take on the No. 2 seed from the WPIAL. Both games will be at a site yet to be announced.
STATE COLLEGE FALLS SHORT AGAINST ALTOONA IN THE D6 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The State College Lady Little Lions suffered poor shooting in the middle quarters, fell behind Altoona in the second half and then saw their last-ditch rally fall short on Friday, Feb. 21, in the District 6, 6A Girls’ Championship held at Bald Eagle Area High School.
Altoona, in the end, was able to survive with a 41-37 win that gave Altoona its third D6 Championship in a row.
SC, down 6 heading into the fourth quarter, rallied back to tie the game at 37-37 with 90 seconds to play.
But a clutch jumper by Altoona, and then two foul shots with 18 seconds left, gave the Mountain Lions just enough for the victory.
Sienna Wilson led State College with 12 points, while McKenna Whitehurst finished with 9.
State College finished its season with a final record of 18-5 and a second place standing in the Mid Penn Conference Commonwealth Conference behind Altoona.
PV UPSET BY RICHLAND IN AAA ROUND ONE
The Penns Valley girls basketball team fought to the very end against Richland in the District 6, AAA First Round game at home on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
The two teams went back and forth all night and were tied at 47-47 when Richland took over the ball with less than 20 seconds to play.
PV came out with a tight man-to-man, but a Richland drive drew a call and a trip to the line.
Two makes later, Richland had a 49-47 lead with three seconds left, and PV had no time to respond.
Richland took its 11th win of the season and will advance to the semifinals against Central Cambria.
The Rams, led in the game by Lilly Smith’s 10 points, saw their season come to an end with a final record of 14-9.
