Berks Catholic ended its regular season on a season high three-game winning streak, but still missed out on the BCIAA playoffs, meaning a significant layoff ensued before it could take the court again.
Whether or not that time off was responsible for the slow start head coach Bob Birmingham’s squad encountered Tuesday night in Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium can be debated, but his senior-laden roster flipped the switch as the Saints stormed back to defeat Bishop McDevitt 58-49 in the first round of the PIAA District 3 Class 4A playoffs.
Giana Mirenda had 14 points to go with 12 rebounds – 12 of those points coming during the middle quarters when the Saints turned a double-digit deficit into a lead they would not relinquish.
It would have been difficult to match the intensity of this matchup in any practice the seventh-seeded Saints had since their final regular season game in February. Both teams came out with pressure defense right off the opening tip, and Berks Catholic fell into an early hole.
The No. 10 Crusaders used a 16-2 run over the first two quarters to open up a 25-11 lead, forcing Birmingham to call a timeout with 5:33 left before halftime.
About a minute later, McDevitt’s Elle Osevala had already doubled her season average with 12 points, but had to go to the bench with her second foul and her team leading 27-16.
The Saints (12-11) finished the quarter with a run of their own, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Sydney Corado and a driving layup by Madison Langdon. The 11-4 surge cut the deficit to 31-27, and Berks Catholic appeared to be hitting its stride heading into the locker room.
“We haven’t seen competition like that in two weeks, and that’s really hard,” said Mirenda. “I feel like after the first quarter, we realized we didn’t have to be nervous anymore and we got back into our groove.”
The Saints didn’t allow the break in the action to slow their momentum. While making an adjustment on the defensive end of the floor, the offense picked up where it left off.
Freshman Abby Cannon scored all five of her points early in the third quarter, and two free throws by Mirenda gave Berks Catholic the lead for good at 40-38. When Langdon went coast-to-coast for a layup with eight seconds left in the quarter, the Saints had built their lead up to 48-42.
“I think we settled down when we went to our half-court defense,” said Birmingham. “We tried to run and jump a little bit in the first half, and they were clearing out pretty well and we weren’t adjusting to it and that hurt us. They got out in transition and got some easy shots. But it’s tough not playing for two weeks."
Bishop McDevitt (10-8) never got any closer in the fourth quarter. The Saints slowed down the pace by putting the ball in Langdon’s hands, whose skills handling the basketball allowed the offense to spread the floor and limit the number of possessions the Crusaders needed for their comeback.
This was the third straight year these schools had met in the District 3 playoffs, splitting the previous two matchups.
At times the game seemed like an old rivalry, with both teams displaying their toughness by scrapping for loose balls and battling for possessions. Mirenda and her teammates felt this game would play out differently than the 23-point loss they suffered to the Crusaders in last year’s quarterfinal.
“Four of their starters from last year are now gone, so it was a completely new team,” she said. “We worked really hard at practice on everything, and it paid off during the game. We knew we had a new team we had to prepare for, and we did that very well.”
“It’s two really good programs that played hard,” said Birmingham. “We both play really competitive schedules, so I think we are battle-tested. We play strong and aggressive, everyone played hard. We want to play physical, and Giana brings a lot of that because she has no fear.”
Langdon finished with a game-high 16 points and Corado had 15 points, including making 4-of-7 3-pointers. Molly McFadden rounded out the senior scoring spree by contributing eight points. The efforts of the upperclassmen were not lost on Birmingham.
“Sydney shot the ball really well and she did a nice job covering their post players,” he said. “Madison didn’t have one of her best shooting nights, but she kept everyone composed. She puts in a lot of time. Molly does a lot of the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Emma Linderman came off the bench and gave us some quality minutes, especially on the defensive end.”
“This team is absolutely amazing,” echoed Mirenda. “We are always there for each other, we always pick each other up. If someone makes a mistake, we always find the good. I think that’s why we played so amazing because we were all there for each other.”
Berks Catholic is now guaranteed at least two more games in its quest to reach the PIAA State playoffs. They will travel to second-seeded Northern Lebanon on Friday night.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Berks Catholic | 9 | 18 | 21 | 10 | 58 |
Bishop McDevitt | 18 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 49 |
Saints (12-11) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
K. Linderman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
E. Linderman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Langdon | 7-24 | 1-5 | 1-8 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
Corado | 5-13 | 1-2 | 4-7 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
McFadden | 3-6 | 2-6 | 0-1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Mirenda | 5-10 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 0 | 12 | 14 |
Cannon | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Totals | 22-58 | 8-20 | 6-19 | 6 | 29/35 | 58 |
Crusaders (10-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Horshaw | 1-5 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Jones | 4-14 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
Osevala | 4-8 | 4-4 | 2-4 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
Watson | 3-8 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
Saunders | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Backhaus | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
Keleman | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 18-45 | 9-12 | 4-14 | 5 | 21/26 | 49 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 14, Bishop McDevitt 14. Team rebounds: Berks Catholic 6, Bishop McDevitt 5.
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