York Catholic downs Oley Valley in districts

It was quite evident early in third quarter who was going to win Friday night’s District 3 Class AA girls' quarterfinal matchup between York Catholic and Oley Valley.

The Fighting Irish (19-5) had opened up a 27-point lead to start the second half after scoring 10 points at the start of the third quarter. It didn’t matter that York Catholic would only score seven points the rest of the game because the Fighting Irish held Oley Valley to 15 points in the second half and came away with the 45-26 win

“We knew that we could pressure their guards a little bit,” York Catholic coach Kevin Bankos said. “I think we were a little timid in the beginning and then there was a lot of fouls in the first half, so we kind of had to back off a little bit. We had to be more selective when we trapped, and the traps that we did worked.

“We went on like a 6-0 run, and I think that’s what jump-started us.”

It wasn’t the prettiest of starts, though. Oley Valley (12-12) held a 3-0 lead through part of the opening period. It wasn’t until Kate Bauhof, who finished the game with 14 points, went end-to-end for a drive that the Fighting Irish finally got their offense going.

Emily Laslo gave York Catholic (19-5) a 4-3 lead on their next possession, and a 3-pointer from Gina Citrone, and back-to-back baskets from Jania Wright firmly turned the game.

“Two weeks is a long time not to play,” Bankos said. “We knew it was going to be bad, and to be honest with you, we didn’t shoot as well as I thought we would on our home court. But that’s part of being rusty again and not being used to the competition level.”

Laslo said once the team settled down and executed their game plan things started to go in York Catholic’s favor.

“Just basically play our game,” she said. “Play at our pace. Just make them play faster than they’re capable of.”

Despite the lopsided victory, there are plenty of things Bankos wants to work on before their semifinal matchup against Wyomissing. Part of Friday’s game was spent doing that when the Fighting Irish squarely had the game under control.

“We just want to make sure that we know game situation,” Laslo said. “We want to make sure we know what offense we’re suppose to be running. We practice to make sure we know, so in those game situations when we aren’t having such a lead that we are prepared for playing against a pretty good team.”

The Fighting Irish will take on Wyomissing in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday at at Manheim Township High School.

Oley Valley (26)

Kauffman 0 0-0 0, Kline 1 0-0 2, Williamson 1 0-2 3, Sonan 0 2-2 2, Meunier 1 0-0 2, Amanda Aulenbach 3 7-12 13, Renninger, 0 3-6 3, Moyer 1 0-4 1, Freed 0 0-0 0. Totals — 6 13-26 26.

York Catholic (45)

Desseyn 0 0-0 0, Kate Bauhof 7 0-0 14, Duchek 0 0-0 0, Kepner 0 0-2 0, Reed 2 1-2 5, Wright 5 0-0 10, Sterner 1 1-5 3, Laslo 4 0-2 8, Strayer 0 0-0 0, Rader 0 2-2 2, Citrone 1 0-2 3. Totals — 20 4-15 45.

Oley Valley _ 6 _ 5 _ 7 _ 8 _ — _ 26

York Catholic _ 13 _ 15 _ 12 _ 5 _ — _ 45

3-point goals — YC 1 (Citrone), OV 1 (Williamson).