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Almost hidden by the championship talent that will be on display in the PIAA Class 6A girls’ championship between Cardinal O’Hara and Spring-Ford Friday is the understated savvy of the coaches.
In addition to the players, Chrissie Doogan of Cardinal O’Hara and Mickey McDaniel of Spring-Ford also are among the best at what they do in the state, and it will only take a few minutes for spectators to realize that when they begin watching the chess match at the Giant Center in Hershey (6 p.m.,, PCN, pcntv.com/basketball stream).
Doogan and McDaniel stood tall among a skilled cast of coaches in the final four round of the state playoffs. Doogan’s Lions wore out a once-beaten and highly skilled Perkiomen Valley squad with gifted 6-foot-3 center Quinn Boettinger and aggressive forward Grace Galbavy (6-0), using a defense that relentlessly overplayed the strengths of those playmakers, and wound up making the former a liability late in the contest.
The Vikings artfully ran the offense through Boettinger for a chunk of the first half, the tall girl stretching the ball high above her, immune to pressure before dishing it to cutting teammates. It was precise, well excuted basketball, a thing of beauty that wowed spectators.
Meanwhile, O’Hara struggled to make shots, including a lot of open looks they got. The Lions countered by making it so difficult to get the ball to Boettinger the result was a slew of bad passes, fewer shots and unproductive possessions that had their fans shaking their heads. The O’Hara guard play altering the passing lanes was instrumental in that plan.
Perkiomen Valley was so frustrated it kept forcing the ball to their bigs and the result was more bad shots and for a chunk of the final frame, falling so far behind that Boettinger had to take a seat on the bench so they could press.
Though Perkiomen Valley coach John Russo blamed himself for being outcoached, his plan was working before the O’Hara adjustments. The Lions won playing fast and physically with a lineup where the tallest girl was 5-foot-10 Molly Rullo. More than a few basketball scouts in attendance marveled at the grit of the Lions, who under Doogan won back-to-back state Class 5A titles in 2021 and 2022.
In the semifinals the Lions systematically took apart a Parkland squad that had won a dozen straight games. It was all over but the math in the third quarter.
Doogan, a 1993 graduate of O’Hara, helped lead the Lions to three Catholic League championships in her playing days. She earned first team All-Delco and All-Catholic honors and was Catholic League MVP in back-to-back seasons, the Lions going 28-0 in her senior year. Doogan left with 1,446 points to rank among the career leaders at O’Hara.
McDaniel, who has over 200 victories and a state title on his resume very cleverly cooled off a hot-shooting Garnet Valley squad that was throwing up three-point shots from nearby West Norriton Township.
Garnet Valley’s sister act of Kylie and Addison Adamski were shooting the lights out in the first half of the semifinal at Norristown High only to be forced out of their comfort zones by an interesting strategy. Instead of pushing the shooters away from the basket, McDaniel had the Rams coax the Jaguars into putting the ball on the floor which lessened their catch-and-shoot accuracy. That and getting back on defense were the ticket for the Rams to get back to Hershey, where they last played in the 2021 Class 6A title game.
Speaking of coaching efforts, Joe Woods of Garnet Valley deserves considerable credit for guiding a team mostly of underclassmen to a stunning 25-7 record and a trip to the state semifinal round. With well over 300 victories and several trips to states, including a runner-up finish in the 2019 title game, Woods used all of his guile to lead a squad almost everybody underrated to a stellar season.
Whatever happens Friday when O’Hara opposes Spring-Ford in Hershey, rest assured basketball fanatics will be tearing it down schematically for years to come. Almost always there is a difference making play. For O’Hara, when it’s all said and done people will still be talking about the four-point play the Lions executed in the state semis against Perkiomen Valley, which was still alive and kicking up to that point.
With the third quarter winding down in the first half the Lions were holding a five-point lead and looking for a last shot. The Vikings were doubling inside and it looked like they would go into the intermission with the momentum you get from a serious stop.
But the Lions skillfully swung the ball around the perimeter from one side of the floor to the other and then inside to Rullo, who drew the defense and pitched the ball back to younger sister Megan.
Megan Rullo drilled the three-pointer and made the and-1 free throw to jack the lead up to nine points. The Vikings, the top seed out of District 1 who had lost only to nationally ranked Gill St. Bernard, never got closer than eight points the rest of the evening.
Doogan versus McDaniel locally or in Hershey is worth the price of admission. The rest of the state will realize that Friday.
Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com
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