Pennsylvania: Guilfoyle Rolls to Class A Title

Make no mistake about it: Bishop Guilfoyle is one of the most dominant girls basketball teams in the state of Pennsylvania.

Saturday afternoon, the Marauders put their stamp on another successful season in the PIAA Class A state championship game, rolling past Nativity B.V.M. 49-27 at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.

It was the school’s fifth state title, and its second in three years.

The game was never in doubt. Guilfoyle jumped out to a 19-5 lead after one quarter and didn’t look back.

Alli Williams had a game-high 22 points and added 12 boards.

“The quick start was very important,'' BG coach Mark Moschella said to the Altoona Mirror. “I think, offensively, we hit most of the easy shots we needed to hit. If you miss those easy shots, you put added pressure on yourself. Our kids did a great job of creating separation early in today's game.''

The Mauraders, out of Altoona, put together a season most would dream of. They finished the year 30-1 and the only loss came in the Laurel Highlands Conference championship to Bishop Carroll. And they led by double digits going into the fourth quarter an astonishing 27 times.

“We never let it go to our heads. We never got cocky, and we always tried to stay focused,'' Williams said to the Altoona newspaper. "We never overlooked a team. We just tried to come out and play our game.''

Of course, don’t expect Nativity to go away any time soon.

A squad full of underclassmen, B.V.M. finished with a 27-4 record. Unfortunately for the Pottsville girls, Guilfoyle was just a little too much to handle.

“We knew coming out against a team like [BG] that we had to compete,'' Nativity BVM coach George Forney told The Mirror. "But we got ourselves down by 14 points in the first quarter, and, although we continued to battle, to try to come back from that against this type of opposition is next to impossible. We're a young team, and we played hard. But [BG is] just a little stronger.''

Don’t expect Guilfoyle to fall off track either.

Williams is only a junior. Junior guard Kaleigh Floyd, who canned 11 points in the title tilt, is also back in 2009-2010.

Class AAAA Boys: Penn Wood wins title

It wasn’t what people expected.

Sometimes, though, games don’t quite flow as people think.

Penn Wood jumped out to a double-digit lead after one quarter and continued to roll Saturday night, capturing the boys’ Class AAAA championship in a 72-53 rout over York’s William Penn.

It was Penn Wood’s first trip to the state finals, and the Delaware County school didn’t waste the opportunity.

Aaron Brown and Duane Johnson had a game-high 20 points to lead Penn Wood, while Tyree Johnson and Will Brown combined for 26 points.

“This feels great, man," Tyree Johnson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I'm just so happy and so proud. I can't even put it in words. I'm just happy. I knew we had them. I started looking at them, and I knew they didn't want to play anymore."

The Bearcats entered with a 31-1 record, and most expected the team to put up a fight.

Penn Wood was just too much on this night.

Jevaughn Murphy had 17 points to pace William Penn.

"They came out and really attacked the basket well and punched us in the face," York coach Troy Sowers told The Associated Press and York Dispatch. "We didn't respond early enough. I'm fully satisfied today because out of 166 quad-A teams, we were the second best in the state. I'm so proud of our players. I'm very happy today."

Class AA Boys: Imhotep Charter takes crown

Imhotep Charter was the preseason favorite to win a Class AA boys’ crown.

The Panthers survived the likes of Prep Charter, West Catholic, Strawberry Mansion and District 12 powers.

Saturday, they capped off their amazing run with a state title. But it wasn’t easy.

It took two overtimes for the Panthers to shake off a pesky Pittsburgh North Catholic squad, but Imhotep held on for a 75-67 victory.

The Panthers were a little shaky to start. North Catholic led 12-0 and took a seven-point lead into the second quarter.

But Imhotep took control.

“To be No. 1 in the state is unexplainable," Panthers guard Kenny Battle told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "In all my years of high school basketball, I never thought we would win the Public, the City, our division [Public League C] and the state championship. This is past a dream come true."

Sam Prescott had 21 points to pace the Panthers, while David Appolon added 15. Battle and Parrish Grant added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Jesse Long, who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a second overtime, had a team-high 20 points, while post man Henry Pwono added 16.

Class AAA Girls: Archbishop Carroll crushes Lampeter-Strasburg

The Patriots didn’t let the foot off the gas in the first half.

In turn, it allowed the Archbishop Carroll girls to win a state title.

The Philadelphia team netted 26 points in the first quarter and outscored Lampeter-Strasburg by 15 points in the next stanza en route to a 68-45 win Saturday.

In the first half, the Patriots shot an impressive 17-of-26 from the floor and canned seven 3-pointers. The shooting display led to a large halftime lead, 45-19.

“We talked about it before the game," Patriots head coach Chuck Creighton told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I said, 'Go out there and show them what kind of team you are right away.' I think the girls took that to heart. They responded."

Hollie Mershon and Erin Shields had 13 points to pace Archbishop Carroll, while teammate Kerri Shields chipped in with 12.

For Lampeter-Strasburg, Katie Lynch had a game-high 14 points and Danielle Rittenhouse had 10 points.

"They had tremendous ball pressure," Pioneers coach Matt Wieand said to the Philadelphia newspaper. "[Kerri Shields] was hounding our guards. We couldn't get into our half-court sets and do our regular thing."

Tom Fox is Sports Editor at The Lock Haven (Pa.) Express and covers Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania for MaxPreps. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com