2016 PIAA Basketball Championship Recaps

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 18, 2016 | 2:10 PM

While the MSA Sports Network had broadcast coverage of four of the eight games this weekend from Hershey, we also have summaries of the other four state championship games. Here are recaps of the PIAA Boys A, Girls AAAA, Girls AAA and Girls AA title games from the GIANT Center in Hershey.

CLASS AAA GIRLS PIAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Archbishop Wood Vikings 46 – Villa Maria Victors 29

In a sloppy game, the District 12 champions Vikings handled the Victors their first loss of the season. Drexel recruit Bailey Breenburg led all scorers with 14 points and cleaned the glass with 13 rebounds.

Archbishop Wood took the lead in the second quarter, helped by a technical called on Villa coach Doug Chuzie.  The Victors lost one of their key players when Sarah Agnello, a Lafayette recruit, fouled out with 8 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Vikings pulled away in the fourth but not before two more technical fouls were called.  35 fouls were called overall. Archbishop Wood was 16 of 26 from the line, Villa Maria was 9 of10.

Archbishop Wood finishes 25-6. The Vikings were 13 of 30 from the field with 4 three-pointers. Villa Maria ends at 29-1. Agnello ended with 11 points, Villa was 8 of 40 from the field.

Archbishop Wood Vikings   5 – 16 – 6 – 19 = 46
Villa Maria Victors   8 – 8 – 5 – 9 = 29

QUAD A GIRLS PIAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Cumberland Valley Eagles 57 – Cardinal O’Hara Lions 34

Three in a row. It’s that simple for Cumberland Valley coach Bill Wolf and his Eagles, as they cruised to a 57-34 victory over Cardinal O’Hara at the Giant Center in Hershey. Villanova recruit Kelly Jekot scored a game high 28 points to lead Cumberland Valley to the win. Jekot, a two-time state player of the year, has never not finished her season playing for a state title, as the Eagles lost to Spring-Ford in 2013 before ripping off three straight title game victories.

And if Pennsylvania girls basketball fans breathed a sigh of relief that Jekot is out of eligibility, her sister Katie, who has verbally committed to Saint Joseph, added seven points and seven rebounds in the win.

Cumberland Valley took the lead for good in the first quarter on a Kelly Jekot 3-pointer, one of four she made in the game. Overall, she finished 11 of 15 from the field. The Eagles played shut down defense in the second quarter, holding the Lions to just five points. That trend continued in the third as the lead grew, including a Morgan Baughman 3-pointer put the Eagles up by 20 points.

Cumberland Valley was also aided by Addison Kirkpatrick, who was a force inside with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Cumberland Valley shot 52 percent from the floor, making 22 of 43 shots, including 7 of 11 from downtown. The Eagles won the rebounding battle 38-15 and committed only 13 turnovers in winning their 10th straight game. The District 3 champions finish with a 29-3 record.

Sophomore guard Kenzie Gardler scored 11 points and junior Hannah Nihill added 10 for the Lions. Both have verbally committed to stay in Philadelphia, with Gardler to Villanova and Nihill to Drexel. Cardinal O’Hara shot 11 of 38 from the field for 28 percent. The Philly Catholic League and District 12 champions end the season at 26-4. Cardinal O’Hara is now 0-2 in state title games, falling to Mount Lebanon in 2009.

Cumberland Valley Eagles   15 – 15 – 13 – 14 = 57
Cardinal O’Hara Lions   12 – 5 – 8 – 9 = 34

PIAA CLASS A BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles 71 – Math, Civics & Science Mighty Elephants 60

The Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles grabbed their 7th PIAA title and first since 2001 with a 71-60 win over the District 12 champion Math, Civics & Science Mighty Elephants on Friday afternoon. Sagaba Konate had a career day as the senior and West Virginia recruit scored 17 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and blocked five shots to lead a balanced attack for the District 10 champions.

Kennedy Catholic opened a lead in the first quarter on junior Drew Magestro’s three 3-pointers and Konate’s eight rebounds. Coach Rick Mancino said it seemed like Konate grabbed every rebound and that every time you looked, the ball was in his hands. The Golden Eagles were able to hold off any run by MCS, which got as close as one point in the third quarter by scoring the first eight points to start the second half. But Kennedy was able to use a run of their own of eleven straight to go back up 48-36. The Golden Eagles were never seriously challenged after that.

Mancino said the Golden Eagles were prepared for this moment, handing Quad A finalist Allderdice their only loss earlier in the season. Kennedy Catholic also defeated strong opponents in Lincoln Park and Farrell, losing only by Brunswick, Ohio and AA title game representative Aliquippa, resulting in a 28-2 record. The coach grabbed his own piece of history, as he was a player on the 1986 Kennedy Catholic championship team. Mancino joked with reporters that the current team was the second best championship team, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Senior Jason Austin added 16 points and dished out 5 assists. Austin came to Kennedy Catholic from cross-town rival Sharon, where he was a 1,000 point scorer. Magestro was 4 of 7 behind the arc for 14 points and added with 6 rebounds. Channing Phillips, another junior, scored 10 points for the Golden Eagles. Kennedy shot over 50 percent from the field, going 25 of 48. The Golden Eagles also were excellent from the line at 17 of 21 for the game and dominated the glass with a 45-34 advantage.

The defense held MCS to just 21 of 71 from the field, including 3 of 21 behind the line. The Elephants finish at 15-15 overall, but played one of the most difficult schedules in Pennsylvania with games against Del-Valley Charter, AAA finalist Neumann-Goretti, Constitution and Imhotep Charter. Junior Malik Archer scored 21 points, while Tymair Johnson and Edward Croswell each added 10. Croswell, only a sophomore, led with 6 boards.

Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles   21 – 16 – 13 – 21 = 71
Math Civics & Science Mighty Elephants   15 – 13 – 11 – 21 = 60

PIAA CLASS AA GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

Neumann-Goretti Saints 65 – North Star Cougars 28

In the opening game of the day, the defending champion Neumann-Goretti Saints cruised to an easy 65-28 win over the District 5 champion North Star Cougars. Neumann-Goretti Senior Alisha Kebbe was 10 of 13 from the floor, as the Syracuse recruit led all scorers with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Neumann-Goretti led 19-10 after the first quarter and started the second with an 8-0 run to take a commanding lead. The Saints outscored the Cougars 24-5 in the second to lead 43-15 at the half and 55-19 after three.

Saints Junior Chyna Nixon added 14 points. Another senior, Kamiah Smalls, a James Madison recruit, scored 11 points, while Wagner-bound senior Morgan Lenahan pumped in 10. The Saints shot 30 of 62 from the field for the game and had an amazing 20 steals defensively. The District 12 champions finished the season 29-1, as their only loss came to AAA finalist Archbishop Wood in the Philadelphia Catholic League final.

Senior Courtney Schrock led the Cougars with 14 points. Junior Jackie Stanko scored 9 and grabbed 7 boards, going over the 1,000-point mark with a fourth quarter basket. North Star (28-3) shot just 9 of 32 for the game and committed 27 turnovers. The Cougars saw an 11-game winning streak come to an end.

Neumann-Goretti Saints : 19 – 24 – 12 – 10 = 65
North Star Cougars : 10 – 5 – 4 – 9 = 28