By Chris Rossetti
CLARION, Pa. – Behind a defense that forced 25 turnovers, District 6 third-place finisher Bishop Guilfoyle rolled past District 9 runner-up Elk County Catholic, 57-26, in the opening round of the PIAA Class A girls’ basketball playoffs Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
The Lady Marauders (20-6) used first-half runs of 12-2 and 15-1 to build a 29-15 halftime lead and then used a 22-2 run in the second half to blow the game open.
ECC(13-14) led 7-2 right out of the gates thanks to five points from Reilly Herzing, her only five tallies of the game, before the 12-2 run by Bishop Guilfoyle that featured seven points from Ryley Lewis gave the Lady Marauders a 14-9 lead a 1:30 into the second quarter.
Cassidy Cunningham momentarily stopped the bledding for the Lady Crusaders with a 3-pointer with 5:41 to go in the half that closed the gap to two, 14-12. Cunningham finished with a team-high 12 points.
But BG answered the triple with a 15-1 run that saw seven different Lady Marauders score to push the advantage to 29-13 late in the half on a basket by Harlem Jennings.
Then, after Josie Smith, who also had five points, scored the first basket of the second half for ECC, Bishop Guilfoyle went on a 22-2 run to build the advantage to 51-19 three minutes into the fourth quarter.
The victory marked the 36th time in its last 38 tries BG has won a first-round PIAA playoff game. The Lady Marauders, who got a game-high 15 points from Lili Benzel, will face two-time defending champion Vincentian Academy Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE 57, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 26
Score by Quarters
Bishop Guilfoyle 11 18 14 14 – 57
Elk Co. Cath. 7 8 4 7 – 26
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – 57
Tessa Crider 0 0-1 0, Ryley Lewis 2 4-6 8, Kierra Miller 1 0-0 2, Aliyan Lariola 0 0-0 0, Darcy Lee 1 4-4 6, Macy Adams 0 0-0 0, Morgan Kiesewetter 0 0-0 0, Anna Audley 4 3-5 11, Lilli Benzel 7 1-2 15, Marina Scipioni 1 0-0 3, Karis Taddei 1 2-3 4, Emily Yanoshak 0 0-0 0, Harlem Jenning 1 0-0 4. Totals 21 14-21 57.
ECC – 26
Saddy VanAlstine 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Cashmer 1 0-0 2, Josie Smith 1 3-5 5, Cassidy Cunningham 4 2-2 12, McKayla Wilson 0 0-1 0, Maddie Kear 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Gahr 1 0-2 2, Sammi Fedus 0 0-0 0, Reilly Herzing 2 1-3 5, Maggie Dinsmore 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 6-13 26.
THREE-POINTERS – Bishop Guilfoyle 1 (Scipioni). ECC 2 (Cunningham 2).
