The PIAA-AAAA girls’ basketball state playoffs resume on Tuesday, with a trio of midstate teams still dancing.
Mid-Penn Commonwealth champ Cumberland Valley takes on Archbishop Carroll; Mid-Penn Keystone champ Mechanicsburg takes on defending state champ Spring-Ford; and Mid-Penn Commonwealth combatant State College takes on North Allegheny.
CLASS AAAA PENNLIVE STATE RANKINGS
Here is a preview of those games, plus a look at Tuesday’s other Class AAAA second-round matchups …
Cumberland Valley (24-5) vs. Archbishop Carroll (15-9) at Geigle Complex, Reading, 6 p.m. — CV, the D3 No. 3 seed, edged Central Bucks West 46-43 and AC stunned Garnet Valley 41-39 in nail-biter first-round games. AC rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit against GV, winning the game when Lexi Stover stuck back Julia Gantz’s miss at the buzzer. CV, paced by double-digit scorers Maddie Torresin (15.7, 23 3s) and Kelly Jekot (14.3, 46 3s), are on a mission to get back to the state title game, after falling to Spring-Ford in the championship last March. Patriots beat Northeast Philadelphia in the District 12 finale. Backcourt mates Stover and Keara McNulty are Carroll’s top scorers. Plot: Can Carroll slow down CV’s transition attack? When coach Bill Wolf’s Eagles are running and finishing, they’re awfully tough to beat. Winner gets: Mount St. Joseph or Dover in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Mechanicsburg (23-6) vs. Spring-Ford (24-6) at Garden Spot HS, 7:30 p.m. — Coach Clay McAllister’s Wildcats are coming off a dominating 70-36 first-round win over Northeast Philadelphia, as Hannah Brown (9.5, 45 3s) popped in six 3s and dropped a season-high 26 points, and Cecily Carl (16.3, 19 3s) scored 20 points for Mechanicsburg, the No. 6 seed from D3. They’ll get a Rams’ outfit that finished runner-up in D1 — Spring-Ford lost to North Penn in the finale — but is out to defend its PIAA crown. Point guard Sammy Stipa, a Lafayette recruit, and forwards Shelby Mueller and Maggie Locke are Spring-Ford’s big three. Rams’ first-year coach Mickey McDaniel is back on the bench after surgery to repair an Achilles tendon tear. Plot: Mechanicsburg PG Jordan Hertz must curtail Stipa, who is a heck of a facilitator and scorer in transition. She can shoot the 3-ball, too. Winner gets: Wilson or Abington in the quarterfinals on Friday.
State College (18-7) vs. North Allegheny (23-2) at Indiana HS, 8 p.m. — Coach Bethany Irwin’s Little Lions held off Mt. Lebanon 51-50 in the first round as Jalyn Shelton-Burleigh bucketed 19 points and State College fended off the Blue Devils at the wire. Little Lions’ soph F Kyla Irwin pitched in with 14 points, upping her career total to 918. NA had been sitting around since a WPIAL semifinal loss to Hempfield Area, which then lost to Penn-Trafford in the District 7 finale. NA knocked out P-T 64-39 in the first round, sending the WPIAL champs home. Keep an eye on Tigers’ sniper Devin LaBarge, who splashed six 3s and popped in 22 points against P-T. Plot: NA is a defensive-minded bunch that takes great pride in holding teams to 40 points or less. State College is riding a 7-game winning streak and has one of the top low-post threats still in the tourney in Irwin, who averages 19.9 points. Tigers’ D should tell the tale in this one. Winner gets: Hempfield Area or Fox Chapel in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Elsewhere Tuesday …
North Penn (25-3) vs. Northampton (15-11) at Souderton HS, 6 p.m. — Maidens are fresh off the D1 crown and beat L-L League Section 2 champ Lebanon 52-41 in the first round. Hate to label, but at 15-11, Konkrete Kids, who upset D2 champ Wallenpaupack in the first round, are the Cinderella of the bracket. Now they’ll get a stab at the top-ranked team in the state. Couple of really good snipers on display in this one: Vicky Tumasz, a 1,000-point scorer and Shippensburg recruit, can shoot it for North Penn; Leandra Sterner (16.2) is Northampton’s top gun.
West Chester Bayard Rustin (23-6) vs. Parkland (20-7) at Souderton HS, 7:30 p.m. — Rustin flattened L-L League champ Manheim Township 71-46 in the first round behind F Adashia Franklyn, who poured in 31 points and sent the Blue Streaks packing. Parkland, the D11 champ, edged Central Bucks East 32-30 in the first round. Erin Bross scored 10 points for Parkland, including four game-icing foul shots in the waning seconds for the Trojans.
Mount St. Joseph (27-3) vs. Dover (25-3) at Garden Spot HS, 6 p.m. — Terrific matchup featuring a pair of top-8 ranked teams here; MSJ, which sprinted past Cardinal O’Hara 69-32 in the first round, spent several weeks at No. 1 in our state rankings, and features multi-purpose Villanova recruit Alex Louin and Loyola (Md.) recruit Carly Monzo. Dover, which handled Bishop Shanahan 48-30 in the first round, is the D3 runner-up and is kick-started by do-everything G Alayah Hall, the D3 tourney MVP. Hall will drive Louin batty in the backcourt. Book that.
Wilson (23-7) vs. Abington (20-7) at Coatesville HS, 7:30 p.m. — Bulldogs won their 17th game in a row — barely — in the first round, fending off D1 No. 10 seed Methacton 44-43. Wilson continues to ride the hot hands of Division I recruits Carley Brew (James Madison), Jessie Wallace (Rider), Avery Marz (St. Joe’s) and D stopper Ivory Bailey (Bryant); Brew had 14 points and 13 boards in the win over Methacton. Abington, the D1 No. 6 seed, KO’d D11 runner-up Pocono Mountain West 55-36 in Round 1. Galloping Ghosts feasted on 21 turnovers in their win.
Hempfield Area (18-9) vs. Fox Chapel (20-5) at Gateway HS, 6 p.m. — Hempfield, the WPIAL runner-up, eliminated Pittsburgh City League champ Obama Academy 54-33 in the opener, while Fox Chapel knocked out District 10 champ Erie McDowell 48-36. Two kids to keep an eye on: Hempfield’s Monica Burns burned Obama for 21 points, while Kayla Slovenec paced Fox Chapel’s balanced attack with 14 points against McDowell.