Bauhof, Irish hold off West York girls
It's no secret in girls' basketball circles that York Catholic sophomore guard Kate Bauhof is the go-to player on this year's Fighting Irish team.
The only returning starter from a year ago, the 5-foot-7 sophomore entered Saturday evening's game against West York as the No. 2 scorer in the league, averaging about 17 points a game.
Finding itself in a deadlocked game with the Bulldogs after three quarters, York Catholic turned to Bauhof. She responded with 13 of her game-high 32 points in the final quarter as the Fighting Irish emerged with a 59-52 victory at York Catholic High School.
"Everybody knows who Kate is," York Catholic coach Kevin Bankos said. "She's a good enough player that when she started going to the basket and they started to double team her, she pulls up and hits a couple of shots. That's what we are going to need her to do: Take the shots when she has them or dish off and rely on her teammates to hit a couple of big shots once in a while."
York Catholic (7-2, 5-0 YAIAA Division III) went on a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter. The run snapped a tie and the Irish never trailed again. Bauhof opened the run with a 3-pointer from the wing. She added a jumper from the corner and a driving layup during the run, which ended on a driving layup by West York's Katie Tallman with 3:39 to play.
"(Bauhof) is a handful," said West York coach Darrell Wildasin. "She is such a good player. She can shoot and finish with either hand inside. That's key."
West York (5-2, 4-0 YAIAA Division II) closed to within two points after free throws by senior Morgan Bamberger with 45.5 seconds left cut the score to 53-51, but Bauhof sank 4-of-5 foul shots and sophomore teammate Jania Wright hit both of hers down the stretch to seal the win.
"It was a game of runs," Wildasin said. "Back and forth. Back and forth. We just couldn't sustain it."
The Bulldogs managed to make a game of it despite watching York Catholic jump out to a 10-0 lead to open the game. Bauhof had six points during that run. West York found its legs midway through the quarter and finished it with a two-point lead on a Bamberger 3-pointer.
"(West York) is a good basketball team," Bankos said. "We knew that coming in. They are a quality group of kids that play well together and are well coached. Anytime you have that combination, it's going to be hard. They have some really good shooters in (Bamberger) and (sophomore Angie Hawkins)."
West York (52)
Hawkins 1 1-2 3, Olivia Sollenberger 5 5-7 15, Morgan Bamberger 4 3-4 14, Stine 2 0-0 4, Tallman 4 1-2 9, Weekly 1 3-5 5, McCarty 0 2-2 2, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 15-22 52.
York Catholic (59)
Kate Bauhof 9 11-12 32, Duchek 1 0-0 2, Wright 2 2-2 6, Laslo 2 1-2 5, Rader 1 4-6 6, Reed 0 0-0 0, Brier 0 0-0 0, Sterner 1 0-0 3, Strayer 0 0-0 0, Citrone 2 0-0 5. Totals — 18 18-22 59.
West York _ 14 _ 15 _ 10 _ 13 _ — _ 52
York Catholic _ 12 _ 18 _ 9 _ 20 _ — _ 59
3-point goals — WY 3 (Bamberger 3), YC 5 (Bauhof 3, Sterner, Citrone)
JV score — York Catholic 48, West York 15