MEADVILLE, Pa. – Expect anything different?
Rivals Maplewood and Cambridge Springs played another instant classic in the Class 2A semifinals, and for the third time this season, the Tigers came out on top, 36-33 in overtime.
The win puts Maplewood in the District 10 title game, where they will meet top-seed Kennedy Catholic.
“We want it any other way,” said Maplewood coach Shawn Rhoades. “Basically we told the girls not to overthink it. We had a fairly good idea of what they were going to do and they had a good idea of what we were going to do. It’s about execution. These girls have been there before. They just keep winning.”
Indeed, a large contingent of the Maplewood players were also key cogs in their state champion volleyball team in the fall, and they relied upon some of that big game experience to win this one.
Maplewood trailed 25-22 going into the fourth quarter, but Bailey Varndell and Madison O’Hara both knocked down big 3s to send the game to overtime tied at 30.
“We hit a couple of big shots and free throws down the stretch to force overtime,” Rhoades said. Our defense, again, was excellent, allowing only 33 points to a really good team.”
In overtime, the O’Hara sisters, Madison and Savanah, both knocked down three free throws each to get the win, with Cambridge Springs getting its only bucket of the extra session via a Payton Leandro triple.
“We made some errors, but you’ll have that,” Rhoades said. “These girls just want to win and they find a way. They’re the ones doing it.”
The game was played within a tight window throughout, as Cambridge Springs led 7-5 after the first quarter and 19-18 at halftime.
Jordyn Wheler scored seven of her nine points in the first half for the Blue Devils, while Varndell also had seven of her 10 points in the first half.
Madison O’Hara finished with nine points and Sadie Thomas eight for Maplewood.
Makenzie Yanc had 10 points to lead Cambridge Springs, while Finley Rauscher added six.
Maplewood (19-4) advances to the finals for the second consecutive season, while Cambridge Springs (18-6) will play Lakeview in the third-place game with a trip to the PIAA tournament on the line.
“We know what we have in front of us,” Rhoades said about the date with Kennedy. “This win was big, though, because it secured us a home PIAA game. That’s huge for us, for the community, and the fans.”
(1) KENNEDY CATHOLIC 61, (4) LAKEVIEW 29
SHARON, Pa. – Layke Fields scored 17 points as Kennedy Catholic powered past Lakeview and into the 2A title game with a 61-29 win.
Fields scored 13 of her points in the first half as the Golden Eagles (20-4) raced out to a 33-14 halftime advantage.
As per usual, it was a balanced offensive attack for Kennedy Catholic, as Izzy Bianco finished with 14 points, Monique Vincent 10, and Bella Magestro nine.
The Golden Eagles also limited Lakeview star Emma Marsteller to just two points.
Kelsey Seddon led the Sailors (17-7) with 11 points, while Leigha Marsteller added five.
CLASS 4A SEMIFINALS
(2) HARBOR CREEK 54, (3) WARREN 44
ERIE – Harbor Creek led wire-to-wire and punched its ticket to the District 10 Class 4A title game with a 54-44 win over Warren in their semifinal.
The Huskies head to their first D10 title game since 2018, while the Dragons won’t be in the title game for the first time since 2019.
The game followed a pattern throughout, the Huskies built a big lead then the Dragons would get within a possession or two, only to see Harbor Creek pull away again.
Harbor Creek jumped out to an 11-4 advantage to start. Warren cut the lead to 11-8 with 46 seconds to play in the first quarter. The Huskies answered with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to go ahead 20-8.
“We just have to make sure we all calm down (when it gets close),” Harbor Creek’s Hannah Smith said. “We have a really good leader, Sammie (Zank), and she just makes sure we’re all calm and OK to be out there in that situation.”
See Smith’s full postgame interview:
Meea Irwin made a layup to make it 20-10 with 4:56 to play in the second quarter. Then both teams clamped down defensively as neither scored again until Sammie Ruhlman made a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left in the half.
“We know they play great defense, and we knew it was going to be a battle in that sense,” Warren coach Lisa LaVan said. “But we didn’t take care of the ball. We didn’t value it as much as we should have.”
Smith answered with a layup and Ruhlman hit two more free throws to give the Huskies a 22-15 halftime advantage.
Gracie Ruhlman’s layup just over a minute into the second half cut the lead to five. Harbor Creek answered with a 6-0 run to push the advantage to 11, 28-17. Warren responded with a 6-0 run of its own to bring it back to a 5-point game.
The Huskies ended the third quarter with an 8-2 run and led 36-25 going to the fourth.
Warren never got closer than within eight points the rest of the way.
Irwin and Sammie Ruhlman each had 13 points for the Dragons, with Halle Kuzminski chipping in six.
Smith had a game-high 14 points, 10 in the second half. Elise Benim had 11 points, and Georgia Weber and Brooke Przybylski had nine each.
The Huskies will face Fairview, a 53-43 winner over Conneaut, for the D10 4A title on Saturday at a time and location to be announced. The two teams split during the regular season.
Warren and Conneaut will square off in a third-place game on Saturday with time and location to be announced.
All four have already secured a spot in the PIAA Tournament, Saturday’s games will determine their seeding.
Basketball playoff coverage is sponsored in part by Olewine Financial Group.
(1) FAIRVIEW 53, (4) CONNEAUT 43
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Trailing by four at halftime, Fairview outscored Conneaut 33-19 in the second half to advance to the D10 title game with a 53-43 win.
Hope Garrity, Bre Heidt, and Ella Garrity all had big second halves for the Lady Tigers (18-6).
Hope Garrity scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half, while Ella Garrity had six of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and Heidt seven of her 14 points in the third quarter.
Sara Gennuso also added six points for Fairview, which trailed 37-36 going into the fourth quarter, only to go on a 17-6 run to close the game.
Lainie Harrington had 16 points for CASH, while Hannah Brady added seven and Morgan Poff six.
CLASS 3A SEMIFINALS
(1) MERCYHURST PREP 50, (5) SHARPSVILLE 33
FAIRVIEW, Pa. – Mercyhurst Prep raced out to a 15-2 lead after the first quarter and never looked back in a 50-33 win over Sharpsville.
Mia Mangini knocked down a pair of first-quarter 3s to help stake the Lakers, who had a quarterfinal bye, to the early advantage.
The lead swelled to 29-11 at halftime as Olivia Kulyk, the junior 1,000-point scorer, led the way for Mercyhurst Prep with 23 points.
Mangini and Makayla Savko added eight points each for the Lakers.
Macie Steiner led Sharpsville with 11 points, while Lily Palko added eight.
Mercyhurst Prep advances to play Wilmington, a 52-39 winner over Greenville, in the championship game on Saturday.
Sharpsville and Greenville will play in the third-place game with a trip to the state tournament on the line.
(2) WILMINGTON 52, (3) GREENVILLE 39
SHARON, Pa. – Fresh off their first playoff win since 1995, the Wilmington Greyhounds are showing no signs of slowing down.
Lia Krarup poured in 23 points as the Greyhounds (21-3) beat defending 3A champion Greenville, 52-39 in the semifinals.
Krarup got off to a slow start, but was on fire in the second half, scoring 18 of her points in the final 16 minutes.
That helped Wilmington, which led 22-19 at halftime, to pull away.
Maya Jeckavitch also had 15 points in the win for Wilmington, while Maelee Whiting added eight.
Grace Cano led Greenville (18-6) with 14 points, while newly minted 1,000-point scorer Josie Lewis added 10.
CLASS 6A SUBREGIONAL
(10-1) CATHEDRAL PREP 80, (9-1) DUBOIS 17
ERIE – Cathedral Prep showed off its sharpshooting skills early and often in an 80-17 win over DuBois in a PIAA Class 5A subregional.
The Ramblers knocked down 10 3-pointers in the game, all in the first half, as they raced out to a 28-8 advantage. They didn’t slow down in the second quarter, outscoring the Beavers 28-2 to hold a 56-10 halftime lead.
Cathedral Prep showed its defensive chops in the third quarter as well, holding DuBois without a field goal and limiting the Beavers to a single point.
Lena Walz poured in a game-high 23 points, with four 3-pointers. Jayden McBride poured in 19 points and Addie Biel had 17.
No DuBois player had more than one field goal in the game.
