Susquehannock nabs win in state playoffs
Susquehannock held off a furious second-half rally by Radnor to claim a 48-45 victory in the first round of the Class 5A tournament Saturday at West York High School.
Radnor had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead with 40 seconds left against a depleted Susquehannock, with two of its starters on the bench in foul trouble and a third playing with four fouls. But Susquehannock reserve Maddie Stone stole the ball with 21.2 seconds left. After Stone knocked down a free throw, Radnor had one last chance to force overtime, but Nicole Massimino's runner at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Susquehannock advances to the second round of the state tournament, where it will play YAIAA foe New Oxford on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. The game is a rematch of a YAIAA quarterfinal showdown that New Oxford ran away with by saddling Susquehannock in foul trouble.
Massimino led all scorers with 20 points. But Susquehannock's Stone helped the Warriors overcome that by scoring 11 points.
"I just come in and do my job," Stone said.
"After I hit my first shot, I felt comfortable. It's just awesome and so cool for us, because we've never won a state game."
Susquehannock took control of the game early and never trailed in the first half.
The game took a turn in Radnor's favor in the third quarter, when the District 1 team took its first lead by erasing a nine-point deficit with a 12-2 run. Radnor grabbed its first lead of the game with 2:34 to play in the quarter. Using its full-court press, and benefiting from some cold Susquehannock shooting.
But Stone came through in a big way, knocking down a 3-pointer at the 2:00 mark and then another from the wing as the horn sounded at the end of the third quarter.
"That's what we needed," Susquehannock coach Dave Schreiner said. "It was just a big time in the game and such a huge part of the game."
Susquehannock had regained the lead and attempted to hold off Radnor, but it had one problem.
The team, which had used just five girls in a District 3 semifinal victory, had picked up serious foul trouble. Anna Mahan fouled out with 5:06 to play, and Tyler Williams fouled out with 2:02 to play. Forward Jaden Walker, who reached double figures in rebounding, finished the game with four fouls.
"There was like a minute and a half there where it was just foul, foul, foul," Schreiner said. "We had band-aids trying to keep it together, but I told our kids that's why we're a team. It was because of our girls that came off the bench, it's because of them that we were able to finish it."