Defense wins semifinals. Or at least it does for the Neumann Goretti girls basketball team.
The Saints are moving on to the Philadelphia Catholic League championship to try and capture their first title since 2015 after a 49-40 win over Cardinal O’Hara at Villanova. Holding the Lions to a nearly scoreless fourth quarter served as the clincher for Neumann Goretti.
Aside from a three-pointer from senior Molly Rullo with under a minute to go in the game, Neumann Goretti commanded the fourth quarter, not allowing any other basket from O’Hara.
Sophomore Skylier Stewart said the positivity between her teammates led to a nearly perfect defensive quarter.
» READ MORE: Audenried’s Shayla Smith breaks city girls’ basketball career scoring record
“Every time when we step off the court after the quarter ends, we’d all get in our huddle, talk to each other, bring each other up,” Stewart said.
During the Saints’ undefeated PCL slate in the regular season, coach Andrea Peterson said it was clear that her team was going to score in games, but to win, they had to focus on defense.
“O’Hara makes you defend for 32 minutes. Well coached, they’re a great team. They move. They make you defend,” Peterson said. “You’re not going to be perfect, but what can you do if you go down, you missed three layups? We can [get] stops on defense. And that’s what we implemented these last two days. And that’s what we’ve harped on defense, defense, defense, back doors. We know what they’re going to do. We’ve really harped. And I told them in December, when we got back from Florida, defense is going to win the Catholic League championship.”
Rullo kept the Lions in the game, finishing with 28 points. Sophomore Brigidanne Donohue scored the other 12 points.
For the Saints, the scoring was more evenly distributed, with sophomore Regina Baker, junior Kamora Berry, and senior Carryn Easley each scoring in double figures.
Easley paced the Saints with 17 points, while Baker followed with 13, and Berry’s 10. Nine of Berry’s 10 points came from three-point shots.
» READ MORE: Here’s a look at the area’s top high school girls’ basketball teams
Peterson said the Saints have been building to the PCL title game this season and “adding fuel to the fire,” especially for their two seniors Easley and Amaya Scott, who Peterson called “the two best guards in the country.”
“We lost in the same spot two years against Wyomessing,” Peterson said. “And with that, they came back with a purpose. They came back with a mission.”
Archbishop Carroll prevails
In a rematch game of last year’s Catholic League final, Archbishop Carroll came out on top this time around against Archbishop Wood, securing a 57-45 win in the second PCL semifinal Monday night.
It marks the second straight year that Carroll will make a Palestra appearance. The Patriots last won the title in 2019.
Carroll was led by junior guard Alexis Eberz, who finished with a career-high 30 points — 26 of them came in the second half. Her sister, Kayla, a freshman, also had a dominant game, adding 16 points, while sophomore Abigail McFillin had eight points.
» READ MORE: The Eberz sisters make up 60% of Archbishop Carroll’s starting five. For them, basketball is a family tradition.
Carroll held Wood to just 9 points in the fourth quarter. The Vikings were led by sophomore Ryan Carter’s 26 points, who transferred in this offseason from Penn Charter.
Neumann Goretti and Carroll will face off in the PCL championship at the Palestra at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.