Delone girls can't get past Neumann-Goretti
Highly touted Neumann-Goretti held Delone Catholic to eight first-half points en route to a 49-24 victory in the first round of the PIAA Class AA girls' basketball tournament Friday at Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia.
Delone Catholic drew a difficult first-round opponent in defending state champion Neumann-Goretti, the No. 9-ranked girls' basketball team in the country, according to USA Today.
"We would have liked to go one game further, make it to the District 3 final or make it to the second round (of the state tournament), but this was a pretty successful year for us," Delone Catholic coach Gerry Eckenrode said. "A lot of our younger players were able to get playing time, and our three seniors really helped them. ... This season bodes well for the future."
Delone Catholic finishes the season 19-8 after winning a share of the YAIAA Division III title.
Alicia Kebbe scored 14 points to lead Neumann-Goretti. Willing to permit long-distance shots in order to try to take away higher-percentage shots, Delone watched Neumann-Goretti hit seven 3-pointers.
"That's something we had to do," Eckenrode said. "I thought we had a pretty good game plan. ... They were just a bigger, stronger team.
"If we would have just a few more offensive threats it could have been interesting."
Delone Catholic kept the game almost even in the final two quarters as Neumann-Goretti held just a 24-16 edge in second-half scoring.
Delone Caholic's Ally Shipley scored 11 points and Elise Knoblach added nine.
Neumann-Goretti (49)
Lenahan 3 0-0 9, Kebbe 6 1-1 14, Glenn 0 0-0 0, Smalls 3 1-2 7, Russell 2 0-0 5, Nixon 2 0-0 5, Parmley 1 0-0 2, Ingram 3 0-0 7. Totals — 20 2-3 49.
Delone Catholic (24)
Miller 0 0-0 0, Singleton 0 0-0 0, Vingsen 0 2-4 2, Laughman 0 0-1 0, Roth 0 0-0 0, Ally Shipley 5 0-0 11, Knobloch 2 4-5 9, Apgar 1 0-0 2, Zumbrum 0 0-0 0. Totals — 8 6-10 24.
Nuemann-Goretti_15_10_12_12_ — _49
Delone Catholic_3_5_6_10_ — _24
3-point goals — NG 7 (Lenahan 3, Kebbe, Russell, Nixon, Ingram).