Junior Deirdre Regan brings the ball up the court for the Mount during last week's District 1 quarterfinal. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Winning both first-round and quarterfinal games in overtime in the PIAA District 1 Class 5A basketball tournament last week, Mount St. Joseph Academy not only got through to the district semi's, but also locked up a spot in the state tournament later in March.

The seventh-seeded Magic started out against one of their own Catholic Academies colleagues, defeating number 10 Merion Mercy 50-47 in an extended contest at the Mount last Tuesday. Out in West Chester three nights later, the Mounties upset number two Henderson High School, 50-46, after regulation play ended in a 41-41 deadlock.

The Mount (12-13 overall) and the other three quarterfinal winners earned a trip to the state tourney, where six Class 5A teams from District 1 will appear. The four losing quarterfinalists went into a play-in bracket that would determine the fifth and sixth seeds from the district.

Friday's victory moved Mount St. Joe into a semifinal against sixth-seeded Bishop Shanahan, which had won a 37-30 quarterfinal over Catholic Academies runner-up Villa Maria. Villa, the third seed, was missing an injured starter for that contest.

In the Mount's victory at Henderson (13-3), senior Sarah Rothenberg chalked up a career-high 21 points, including four-for-four foulshooting in overtime.

"She didn't even know that," first-year MSJ head coach Claire Perry said about Rothenberg's personal record. "Sarah does well under pressure, and it's phenomenal to see her succeed in this kind of environment and for everyone else to rally behind that. It's awesome."

In their regular-season Catholic Academies series, the Mount and Merion Mercy each won at home, and they had quite a battle for best-out-of-three last Tuesday. From a 19-18 halftime edge, Mount St. Joe spread the score to 35-28 by the three-quarter mark. The Golden Bears, led by guard Jada Smith with a game-high 20 points, erased the Magic's advantage in the fourth round to force the contest into overtime at 43-all.

Hoover and Smith scored 15 and 14 points respectively for the victors, who out-pointed Merion 7-4 in the four-minute OT. The Magic also received six points apiece from senior forward Grace Gelone (a Norwood Fontbonne Academy graduate) and junior guard Grace DiGiovanni.

On Friday the Mounties headed out to Chester County for an evening encounter with the second-seeded Warriors of Henderson. The teams appeared well matched as they arrived at a 22-22 tally for halftime, when Rothenberg had seven points in the book and Gelone led all scorers with eight.

After the score seesawed to 26-all in the early minutes of the third quarter, Henderson gained a slim edge, and the Warriors entered the fourth round with a 33-30 lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, the hosts had added another point for a 36-32 count, but then Rothenberg went to work with a 15-foot jumper. The senior was fouled following a steal by MSJ junior Megan Dodaro, and she made both of her foul shots for a 36-all tie.

Henderson picked up a field goal from the paint by sophomore Grace Ferguson and one free throw from junior Maddie DePrisco, but a "three" from the left wing by Rothenberg leveled the scoreboard once more with 90 seconds left. Neither team scored during the following minute, and after each called a time-out, Warriors junior Emma Bertrando drove in from the right side to move the hosts ahead.

Mount St. Joseph called time-out with 15 seconds remaining, trailing 39-41. When play resumed, the Magic's original play didn't seem to materialize as planned, but they eventually got the ball to Gelone just above the foul line. She hit a clutch jumper with two seconds left, sending the bout into overtime at 41-41.

"I can't take credit for that because we didn't draw up that play," the Mount's Perry revealed. "Grace has had that shot all season. We've been talking about her being confident and taking that shot, and she made it."

Henderson put up the first point in OT with a free throw, but after visiting senior Ashley Smith sank a three-pointer from the right side of the floor to make it 44-42, the Magic never trailed again. With 45 seconds left Hoover made the front end of a one-and-one, and that was enough to keep the Magic in front when Warriors senior Viktoria Kneis scored in transition.

Rothenberg was fouled and made both free throws for a 47-44 score, and when Henderson missed a three-point attempt at the other end Hoover vacuumed the rebound and drew another foul. She made the first of two tosses, but with 5.7 seconds left Ferguson put in a short jumper for the home team, making it a two-point game at 48-46.

Unable to force a turnover in the final moments, Henderson fouled Rothenberg, and she capped off the Magic's victory with two more "makes" from the stripe with eight-tenths of a second remaining.

Gelone finished with 14 points and Hoover with eight, while Smith wound up with five points and senior Kieran Glowacki had two. Kneis and Bertrando led the losing cause with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

For the Magic, it was on to meet Bishop Shanahan, which had split with Henderson in two regular-season meetings between the teams.

Mount St. Joe skipper Perry observed, "Our pre-season, our non-league schedule, and our league schedule were all preparing us for Districts. Our non-league schedule was tough, but that helped us get a decent seed.

"Tonight I thought we were composed and we had guts," she continued. "We gave up some more offensive rebounds than we wanted, but we did it in the moments that mattered."