CENTRE COUNTY — St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and the Penns Valley girls’ basketball teams remain alive in the District 6 Tournament despite setbacks in the past week.
The WolfPack suffered an excruciating last-second, one-point loss to Bishop Carroll in the 1-A semifinals, but they will still qualify as either the third or fourth seed from the district in the PIAA tournament.
Penns Valley, after its loss to No. 1 Central Cambria in the 3A semifinals, will have to win a consolation playoff against either No. 2 Marion Center or No. 3 Cambria Heights to take the third D6 qualifying spot. That game will be on Friday, Feb. 27.
In State College, the Lady Lions saw their season come to an end after a 51-35 loss to arch-rival Altoona in the D6 championship game at Mount Aloysius College on Feb. 19.
Bishop Carroll 61, St. Joe’s 60
No. 2 Bishop Carroll’s Adelyn Myers scored with 12 seconds left in the Huskie’s dramatic 62-61 semifinal victory over St. Joe’s on Feb. 19 in Ebensburg.
After a back-and-forth second half, the WolfPack took a 61-60 lead in the final seconds of the game on a foul shot by high-scorer Naomi Crispin.
With only a stop away from a title shot for SJCA, Myers connected, and then the Huskies forced a turnover on defense to cement their 23rd win of the year.
Carroll will now move on to face LHAC foe Bishop Guilfoyle in the D6 championship, while SJCA will take on No. 4 Williamsburg in a consolation game to determine third and fourth place.
The game began with the WolfPack taking an early 10-point, 20-10 lead, but a BC rally before halftime brought the Huskies to within two points at 36-34.
Carroll went on to take a 48-47 lead heading down the final eight minutes where the two teams traded baskets until Crispin’s foul shot with less than 30 seconds to play set the stage for Myers’ heroics.
Crispin led the WolfPack with 28 points and she was followed by Jacee Cunningham with 12 and Aubrey Yartz with 11.
The loss sent SJCA into a seeding game against Williamsburg to be played at Bald Eagle Area High School on Thursday, Feb. 26.
Both teams still qualify for the PIAA Tournament with the winner of the game traveling to play the No. 2 seed from District 7 on March 7 and the loser playing the District 7 champion on the same day.
Central Cambria 52, Penns Valley 37
The Penns Valley girls’ basketball team started strong against No. 1 Central Cambria in Ebensburg on Monday night, but the Lady Rams could not keep up the pace with the Lady Red Devils in what was ultimately a 52-37 loss.
Central Cambria, tied at 14-14 going into the second period, ramped up the defense and surged to a 45-29 lead after the middle periods.
The Red Devils held PV to single digits in both quarters using an aggressive defense and then played out the final quarter to take their 19th win of the season.
Elle Dinges led PV with 13 points in the game while Paige Johnson scored 10 points and Sydnie Dalton had 8.
The loss did not end the Rams’ season because three teams from the AAA bracket will qualify for the PIAA Tournament and a consolation game is needed to determine the third qualifier.
That game will be on Feb. 27 and will pit the Rams against No. 2 Marion Center, 22-4, at Marion Center. The winner will take the No. 3 seed from D6 and match up against the District 7 champion, away on March 7 in the PIAA first round.
Altoona 51, State College 35
It was not the best of starts for the State College Lady Little Lions.
Going for the D6-6A championship against Altoona at Mount Aloysius College on Feb. 19, SC scored just five points in the first quarter and fell behind by eight points.
Another five points in the second quarter and the Lady Mountain Lions were ahead by 13 and on their way to a 51-35 victory over the Little Lions.
State College picked it up in the second half — 25 points — but the Lions were unable to close the gap and fell to their eighth loss against 15 wins for the season.
McKenna Whitehurst was the high scorer for SC with 15 points and she was followed by Sheree Wilson and Sienna Wilson who both scored eight.
Brionna Hudson led Altoona with 18 points.
The loss ended the season for State College with 15 wins and a third-place finish in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth with a 10-5 conference record.
Altoona will now move on to the PIAA Tournament and have a home game against the No. 2 team from District 7 in the First Round on March 7.
